


Better Off Dead

by Nerdqueen395



Series: Langst [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Lance (Voltron), I guess you can ship them if you want to, It's more of a bonding/friendship type story, Lance deserves more pain (and love), Lots of Angst, Mild Language, Some Humor, Some Swearing, hurt pidge, lots of blood, lots of sass, some silly flirting cause that's something I do with my best friend, usually in spanish, why? because he's my baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-21 13:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9550877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdqueen395/pseuds/Nerdqueen395
Summary: When a mission ends in catastrophe, Pidge finds herself on an alien planet with no Lion, a badly injured Lance, and no way to contact the other Paladins. Now, both Pidge and Lance are asking themselves one question, "Do I keep going? Or am I better off dead?". They'll need to work together in order to survive the Hell that lies before them. Especially when things are not always what they seem...





	1. Blue Thunder

"Does everybody remember the plan?" Shiro's voice rang clear and loud through the helmet comlinks. A green glow filled the cockpit of Pidge's Lion, keeping the darkness of space at bay. The cold calm that had filled her before they left now replaced by burning adrenaline. Her head felt buzzed and ready to make decisions at a moment's notice.

"Yeah, yeah yeah, don't worry Shiro,it's not like we could forget the plan after the several million times you went over it with us." Lance's sarcasm was as strong as ever, helping to loosen the tension that had been sitting, stagnant, since they had left the castle.

"Ugh, Shiro, why did we bring this clown along with us?" Keith muttered, for once, Pidge had to agree with him. This was a stealth mission, and Lance definitely did not do stealth.

"Hey," an indignant Lance retorted, "Talk about calling the kettle black hothead, who was it that almost got us and the Balmera killed by attempting to just slice and dice everything in sight like a freaking Space Gordon Ramsay? Oh right, it was you, luckily someone, that someone being me if you've forgotten, stopped you!"

"Hey guys," Hunks voice joined the conversation, "Cut it out, all Shiro asked is if Lance knew the plan, well? Do you know the plan Lance?"

"Like the back of my hand old buddy!"

"Is that so?" Pidge could practically see Shiro's eyebrow lift up, "Then I guess you don't mind repeating to us what the plan is, right Lance?"

"Sure thing Boss Man. Step one, Pidge directs her lion towards the Galra ship in stealth mode, then, she hacks into the Galra security system all hacker voice like 'I'm in,' and feeds their sensors a continuous loop so they don't see us coming, after that we land on the bottom of the ship, break in, then BAM!" Pidge leapt in her chair at the sudden sound effect, she scowled, "Shiro's all like 'At my signal, unleash hell', then, we take down guards left and right, bein' all 'Terminate with extreme prejudice!' and steal their shipment of whatever that glowy stuff Keith found and win the day, just like we always do!" Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Lance, that was the worst explanation of a battle plan that I have ever heard in my entire life, and my dad made me watch Jupiter Moon with him." Pidge felt the sharp point of sadness pierce her as the icy tang of loss filled her mouth. Memories flooded back, memories of Friday night movies, where Matt and her had fought over who got to pick the movie, a fruitless battle as her father always won (despite not playing rock, paper, scissors with them, darn parental privileges).

Pidge remembered cuddling up beside him, snacking on coconut oil popcorn watching VHS's of a 90's TV show flop. She and Matt usually spent the entire time pointing out flaws, poor acting, and those terribly unscientific Sci-Fi moments.

"Wait, Jupiter Moon? Like, Jupiter Moon The New Frontier, The Pirates of Leda, Ghost in the Machine, and Fires of Io? Dude! Well, Dudette, Mi mamá was obsessed with that show! I didn't know you were a fan-" Pidge growled,

"I'm not a fan."

"Alright, alright, enough you two." Shiro intervened, "Lance, while that wasn't the best explanation of the plan, it's close enough." Pidge rolled her eyes. "Alright, get ready guys, we're approaching the main ship, you ready Pidge?"

"Already on it." Pidge flipped a switch on the dashboard, activating the cloaking device, and effectively blending her Lions' bright green color with the dark surroundings. Quickly, Pidge steered her lion towards the ship. Once close enough, PIdge jettisoned herself out, using her jetpack to propel herself forward.

She reached to entry door and connected her suit to the opening hatch. In just a few moments, Pidge managed to hack the door, and gain entry without setting off any alarms.

Once in, Pidge snuck, carefully avoiding Galra sentries, to the main command center. Darn. Two Galra stood guard of head computer. Using her height difference to her advantage, Pidge crept closer to them, and before the two guards could register it, Pidge had used her bayard to effectively knock the two out. Pidge quickly shut the door, dragged the two unconscious Galra to a corner, and hooked herself up to the mainframe.

"I'm in." She whispered into the comm.

"See!" She heard Lance whisper back, "I knew you would say that! Hacker voice part of the plan is done and done!" Pidge grimaced.

Quickly, she fixed the security so the Paladins could sneak in, undetected. She smiled to herself and placed her hands on her hips, proud of her work, until a certain voice ruined the moment.

"Pidge, is the mission a go? I repeat, is the mission a go?"

"Will you stop doing that?" She fumed.

"Stop doing what?" Lance sounded innocent, clearly unaware that his humor was unwanted at this moment.

"Stop quoting movie lines and start acting like a Paladin is what she's asking you to do brainless." Keith, believe it or not, seemed more agitated by Lance than Pidge at that moment. Lance, meanwhile, stopped talking. Except for the occasional mumble here and there, mostly rude words about Keith and how he and Pidge were "No fun at all".

Pidge watched her own, untampered monitors closely. "Alright guys, take a left at the next intersection, and keep an eye out, I can see some Galra walking the hallways."

The mission was going on without a hitch. The group had reached the storage area were the Quintessence was being stored in no time flat, and not a single Galra was aware of the intruders. Pidge opened the doors for them, then left the control room, sneaking along the hallways as she watched the holographic screen on her suit.

There were doors leading outside in the storage area, and all they needed to do now was have Pidge activate them and they could float their new-found booty out of the Galras' clutches and into their Lions'.

Pidge finally reached the storage area and gazed around in awe at the mass amounts of glowing Quintessence surrounding her and her friends. "That's a lot of Quintessence guys."  
Lance let out a low whistle, "No kidding, so Shiro, any ideas on how we're gonna fit this on our lions?"

Shiro looked around, thinking. "We don't have to take all of it," He finally said, "We take what we can carry and the rest we dump into space, got it?" All the Paladins nodded.

Pidge began opening the hangar doors, the Lions bright colors becoming more and more visible as oxygen and gravity began to suck themselves out into the vacuum of space. Of course, that's where everything went wrong. Because at that exact moment, a Galra patrol saw them.

"Intruders!" called out one of them, the horde of Galra began rushing in, firing at the Paladins, all of whom pulled out their bayards.

Dangit all, Pidge thought, we were so close!

More and more Galra flooded the storage room and bright plasma bursts filled the room with a dangerous display of fireworks. "Tell Commander Bendalk to open a wormhole to the main ship! We can bring these Paladins and their lions with us!"

"Guys!" Pidge called into the comm, "We need to go, now. They're opening a wormhole!"

"Alright Pidge, TEAM, GET TO YOUR LIONS, NOW!" Shiro yelled. Pidge looked away from the battle and towards her Lion, she was running as fast as she could, the vacuum helping and hindering her efforts by both speeding up the process of getting to Green and by throwing her off balance.

Soon, however, that became the least of her problems. "PIDGE!" It was Lance. Pidge turned to have her vision blocked by an oncoming blue Paladin.

"Lance?! What are you-" But Pidge was unable to finish her sentence, because at that moment, Lance crashed into her, gripping her tightly as they suddenly found themselves catapulted by some unknown force.

Everything was spinning, Lance still blocked most of her vision, but she could see a wormhole opening up at the corners of her eyes, felt Lance and her being pulled into it with the Galra ship, heard Shiro, Keith, and Hunk calling out their names, safe in their lions, a sudden pull on her gut and Pidge felt her and Lance get flung into the sides of the wormhole, away from the Galra ship into unknown territory.

For the second time in her life, Pidge realized she was going to be flung out and and tossed into unknown territory. The pull grew stronger and Pidge and Lance disappeared into the wormhole. Leaving both their friends, and their Lions behind.

Bright light burned Pidge's eyes, and loud, unnatural noises ravaged her ears, which were already ringing like bells in a clock tower. Slowly, Pidge blinked the gunk away from her eyes, taking her surroundings in.

She was in some kind of forest area. With large neon green trees that reminded her of oaks from back on Earth. Large and elegantly plumaged birds flew from tree to tree, their singing sounding raucous and not quite as beautiful as their outside.

It was beautiful and terrible all at once. Which basically summed up Pidge's life in it's own strange way. Pidge moved to sit up, gasping in pain as she suddenly felt a deep pressure on the right side of her chest. Broken ribs? Pidge tried sitting up again. Nothing seemed to move in her chest, and the pain went away as soon as she stopped moving. Bruised. Her ribs were bruised.

Pidge's face went white. Not only did she have bruised ribs, but based off of the unnatural way her foot was pointing, she also had a broken ankle. She couldn't feel pain in it however, which, although seemed like a blessing, also meant that her nerves had suffered damage as well.

Other than that, the rest of the wounds were just ugly bruises and nasty cuts. A few gashes here and there, but they didn't seem to bleeding that badly. She knew she would have to clean them and bandage them though, if she ever wanted to avoid infection.

That was when another thought hit her like a landmine. Lance. He had gone through with her. Pidge still didn't know exactly what had happened up there, but what she did know was that Lance had obviously screwed up again and left him and Pidge stranded on an alien planet without their Lions or medical attention. Pidges stomach growled. And food. She was going to kill Lance.

Pidge searched around, looking for him, eventually she found his body lying in the...grass? Is that what this was? A few meters ahead of her. "Lance," Pidge said, "Lance!" She cried out again, louder this time. Lance didn't respond. Painfully, Pidge dragged herself over to Lance. "Lance!" He was lying on his side, Pidge shifted him over onto his back and pulled his helmet off. She slapped him lightly on the cheek, "LANCE!"

Pidges breath caught in her lungs. Her mind buzzed and her heart pounded. His chest wasn't moving up and down. Lance wasn't breathing. "Oh no, oh gosh, nononono, Lance? Lance! Get your sorry lungs to start breathing or so help me when we get out of here I'll kill you!" Still no response. She placed her index and middle finger to his neck, the way she had learned in a miniature first aid class her mother had forced her to take years before. Nothing. Then a slight flutter. He was still alive. Barely.

Pidge began ripping Lance's armor off as quickly as her shaking hands would let her. She than began pounding on his chest with her fist, silently singing "Stayin Alive" in her head. After a few seconds of that, Pidge made the random guess that she had done the required amount and, tilting Lance's head up, Pidge attempted to breath life into him. Nothing was happening.

Pidge began her frantic pounding on his chest again. This time, not caring about the right rhythm or timing, just about bringing her friend back from the nearly dead. "Come on, come on." She growled at him, "BREATH!" She pounded her fists against his chest as hard as she could, feeling something snap beneath them. And Lance breathed.

He coughed roughly, and Pidge heard a crackling sound coming from his chest. He opened his eyes, they looked cloudy and confused.

"Hola hermanita, ¿se me olvida algo?"


	2. While You Were Sleeping

Say what now? Was Lance speaking in Spanish? She knew he was from Cuba, but he had never spoken in Spanish in front of her before. Pidge thought back to her Spanish I class, _hermanita…_ little sister! Oh. Little. Sister? Before Pidge could ask him anything, Lance passed out again. Rude.

            Lance may be breathing now, but it was shaky and wet. Every breath sounded painful and ragged. Pidge had heard that CPR was very dangerous, especially for inexperienced people. A lot of times, the newbie would end up killing the dying person by accidentally breaking their ribs. Pidge may have overestimated her strength, or the adrenaline and fear had made her stronger than she thought. In helping Lance to breath, Pidge had broken his ribs.

            “Oh no, I’m so sorry Lance!” Pidge shook her head, remorse would have to wait, first, she had to see what had caused Lance to be injured so badly in the first place. She slowly took off Lance’s armour, leaving him in the white spandex the Paladins generally wore underneath. Pidge winced and breathed in harshly through her teeth as she shifted her weight to assess the damage on Lance. Her ankle had begun to throb painfully, and would need to be set if she wanted it to heal right.

            “Ok, let’s see what we got here.” Pidge muttered to herself. She began assessing the damage on Lance, growing more worried as she did so. Lance was covered in lacerations and bruises, more so than Pidge. She remembered how Lance had come out of nowhere during the battle and curled up around her. She hadn’t thought so at the time, but perhaps he had actually...been trying to protect her?

            It was hard for Pidge to believe that the overconfident and ever complaining Lance would be so selfless and willing to throw himself into danger, but she thought back to a few months ago when he had nearly died saving Coran from and explosion. Hmm, perhaps it wasn’t too unbelieveable.

            _Ok Pidge, his back was the part of his body facing the danger, so the worst wound is probably back there._ Pidge hated to have to move Lance any more than she had to, but it was vital that she knew exactly what had hit Lance. She turned over as carefully as she could. Then sucked in a shattered breath. There was a large bruise spreading from the middle is back and all around. Lanced coughed great hacking coughs, and to Pidge’s horror, she saw blood come flying out, landing on the ground and dribbling down his chin.

            Lance was bleeding internally. And Pidge may have only made it worse by attempting CPR. Tears pooled hot and prickly in her eyes. What was she doing? She shouldn’t be out here, _she_ should have been watching her back, not Lance. And now, here they were, stranded, with no way home, and Lance, oh gosh. Lance was going to die.Her breath came in short bursts, and black rimmed the edges of her vision. Her heart beat faster and faster, and the world seemed to spin, making Pidge feel sick to her stomach.

            Then, a cold and firm hand grasped her arm tightly, and she heard a voice begin merging with the ringing in her ears. “Shh, you’re ok, you’re safe, nothing’s going to harm you, just focus on my voice and _breath_ ” Pidge sucked in a deep breath, then another.

Finally, her pulse began to slow and her vision returned to normal. Then she saw who had been speaking to her. Lance was awake again, but barely. His once tight grip on Pidges arm became loose, and his hand dropped to his side. His voice, which had sounded so clear, now became lost in another round of violent coughing. More blood splattered against the ground, and Lance winced.

Pidge fought back the urge to hug him tightly, instead choosing to hold his hand and squeeze it tight. “Lance, you’re awake!” She choked out. Lance made a daring attempt to smile.

“Course’ I’m awake, you honestly think I’d try and sleep during the day? That’d mess up my strict sleep schedule, and then where would I be?” More coughing, Pidge squeezed harder.

“I’m so sorry Lance, you got hit because of me, and then I broke your ribs, and now I’m sitting here, a freaking wreck, with you trying to help me.” She sniffed, Pidge had never been one to be super emotional, she generally tried to keep a straight face and mind. But seeing all this blood, and Lance...well, not being like the Lance she knew, Pidge didn’t know what to do. And that was a strange sensation for her. “How-” She questioned, “How did you know what to do?” Lance tried to smile again, but the effect was gruesome.

“My little sister, Rosie, she used to have panic attacks all the time. When our older siblings left for college, I was the only one who could help her through them.” Lance frowned, looking lost in thought, “I wonder how she’s dealing without me.” He looked wistful and homesick. Pidge stifled more tears.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, you must have been a great big brother, you really helped me out back there.” Lance just gave a slight nod, then attempted to do the unthinkable. Sit up.

“GAH-AH!” He cried out, falling back onto the ground, coughing up more blood in the process. Just how much blood could one person cough up? Pidge didn’t want to know.

“What in the name of all that’s holy were you thinking?!” She scolded, heart racing. Had he made the injury worse? What should she do?

Lance just motioned weakly to her ankle, “We need to set that, and make sure it’s not infected.” Pidge scoffed at him.

“Why on earth would you of all people be caring about my ankle at a time like this, you’re dying idiot!” Lance winced. “You..” Pidges voice began to falter again, but she quickly gained control of it, “I thought you were dead when I saw you lying here not breathing!” Lance snickered, “What’s so funny?”

“I-I was only,” He chuckled, “I was only _mostly_ dead,” Pidges eyes went wide, seriously? Movie references? At a time like _this_? But even despite her dislike of the timing, she couldn’t help but chuckle with him. _The Princess Bride_ had been one of Pidges favorite Rom-Com movies growing up, and she had often imagined herself as Princess Buttercup, and her and her brother Matt had spent more than one summer afternoon attempting to act out the entire movie by heart. Pidge pushed the memories away, too painful. Lance breathed in another shaky and wet breath, coughing again, but this time no blood came up.

“Ugh,” He muttered, “My chest feels like that one time Anton dared me to try a cigaret.” Pidge sat up straight and glared at him.

“You did _what_?” Lance blushed, “Do you know what smoking does to you? Cancer! Holes burned into your throat, stained teeth and nails! What were you thinking?”

“Well,” Lance said, obviously ashamed of himself, “I wanted to impress my big brother, but it was totally not worth it. My lungs burned and I couldn’t get the acrid smell out of my system for weeks. And I never could get within fifteen feet of a smoker again.”

“Serves you right.” Lance chuckled again.

“Now,” he groaned, “Let’s get me bandaged up so I can actually move again, I’ve never been so still in my entire life, it feels unnatural.” Pidge nodded. Taking care to find some cover before she did so, Pidge took her armor off, stripped the spandex off of her skin, then put the armor back on. She returned to find Lance attempting to hide newly coughed up blood and smiling at her. It pained her to see Lance this way, but she knew that if she confronted Lance about it, it would destroy his pride. So she kept her mouth shut.

Pidge began tearing her spandex into strips of fabric, then, using what basic knowledge she had of first aid, wrapped up Lance's’ chest tight, so nothing (hopefully) would jostle around too much. Once that was settled, Lance carefully sat up, wincing as he did so.

“Are you sure you should be moving?” Cautioned Pidge, but Lance just waved her apprehension away.

“I’ll be fine.” He said. He then picked up a couple of the sticks that had been laying on the ground around them, and motioned for Pidge to show him her ankle. Pidge obliged, and Lance began making her a homemade splint.

“How do you know how to do all this stuff?” She asked, Lance smiled a different smile than Pidge was used to. This one was filled with love and pride. Lance stopped looking quite as pained and started looking...at peace.

“ _Mi hermana,_ Marie, she went to medical school on a scholarship, she got a PHD and everything. She works as a surgeon at my hometown's hospital. When she was still learning the practice, she would go over the procedures with me, pretending I was injured.”

“Wow, you gotta nice family, there a lot of you?” Lance snorted.

“You’re gonna wish you’d skipped asking that question.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, _hay Mamá, Papá, Rosa, Felipe, Tony, Anton, Marie, mi tía Janise y tío Mendo, mi abuela, y mi primos Neo, Montez, Verita, Novia, y Mariposa._ We all used to live together in this small apartment, that was also back when _mi abuelo y bisabuela_ were still around. _Mi Mamá_ used to do all the rich kids laundry for money, _mi Papá_ worked as a janitor for the local elementary school, _mi tia y tio_ ran a small restaurant.” Lance’s smile deepened, “Man, I can still taste Janise’s _Bacán_.”

Pidge was astounded, she had never heard Lance talk much about his family before, come to think of it, she didn’t know a darned thing about Lance’s past. She didn’t know if it was a good thing, or a bad thing.

“When I was little, I used to help out around the restaurant, washing dishes, cleaning floors, all that stuff. And in return, at the end of the day, I would get a small bowl of _arroz con leche._ ” Lance finished tying off Pidge’s splint, and leaned back against a tree.

“Wow, so, how did you end up at Garrison with Hunk?”

“Marie was the oldest, she worked hard in school and earned a scholarship to ELAM University. She graduated, top of her class. After that, she helped support our family. Anton, Tony, and Felipe all went into mechanics.” Lance looked sad for a moment, “It had always been my dream to be a pilot, but I knew that, with our family’s financial crisis and my lack of proper schooling, that was never going to happen. I planned to just be a paperboy and help Rosie pay for veterinary school.”

“Aw, Lance, that’s adorable, you really were a great brother to all your siblings, so what changed that let you become a pilot?”

Lance looked a little bit broken for a small moment, “ _Mi abuelo,_ he died. I always loved him, I used to spend countless nights, stargazing with him as he told me his make believe stories of his adventures in space, and how I would one day follow in his footsteps.” Lance looked up towards the sky, “Turns out, he had been saving up all his money for me to go to the best flight school in the world, Garrison.” Lance looked a bit weird, really red in the face, his breathing was coming in pants now, and tears began streaming down his face. He turned away from Pidge, and promptly threw up. Large pools of red now stained the ground.

“LANCE!” Pidge moved closer to him, placing her hand on his forehead. Not good. His hands were cold and clammy, but his head was burning with fever. No wonder he had been so talkative. She should have seen the symptoms earlier. “Lance, can you hear me?” Lance nodded slowly, his breath catching in short, ragged, bursts. “Ok bud, stay with me, I need you to breath ok? C’mon, you can do it!” Lance began to breath again, and before anything else could happen, passed out. His head slumped onto Pidge’s lap.

Pidge raised her arms defensively, this was new as well. For Pidge, not for Lance. Pidge wasn’t generally a touchy-feely kinda girl, so she had no clue what to do. Finally, Pidge accepted her fate, and let Lance lay there. Eventually, Pidge even began stroking his hair, and finally, without even realising it, Pidge fell asleep, curled up protectively around Lance.

 

Pidge woke up to a coughing Lance, a little bit of blood landed on her armor, but not as much as before. That was good, right? LAnce began stirring, and he mumbled something that sounded like a lullaby.

 _“Aruru mi niño, arrurú mi amor, Aruru pedazo de mi corazón”_ Lance sang softly, apparently too out of it to realize what he was doing.

“Lance,” Pidge whispered, “I hate to do this to you, but, since you learned some medical procedures from Marie, can you tell me anything about internal bleeding? Please, I need to know how to treat you.” Pidge choked back her tears. A long pause, then, finally, Lance muttered,

“When internal bleeding is slower or delayed, observation may be appropriate at first. Often, internal bleeding from trauma stops on its own. Blood transfers may be needed to help the patients blood clot…” Lance drifted off again.  From the sound of it, Lance must have memorized Marie’s medical books with her. Which was extremely lucky for Pidge. Lance’s internal bleeding was slowing, he should be fine as long as they got a blood transfer to him soon.

Despite the lack of blood, Lance still had a bad cough, and now he was coughing up black slime. Pidge had never missed blood so much. At least then she had known what was going on. Now, Pidge was clueless as to why Lance was still as sick as he was.

Pidge shifted uncomfortably, her ankle felt stiff, and it hurt to breath. Probably not as bad as it was for Lance, his ribs being broken and all, but still, bruised ribs were painful.

She tried to get comfortable again, to sleep as she had done before, but something stopped that from happening. Despite how dark the sky was growing, the space surrounding her and Lance was glowing.

Tiny little light bulb eyes began to pop up around them, and sharp teeth glinted in the eerie glow. Pidge could feel another panic attack coming down, but she did her best to swallow it down. Because panicking while surrounded by monsters while simultaneously having a broken ankle and  a broken friend, wasn’t exactly the best thing right now.

Pidge slowly and painfully stood up, finding, much to her relief, her bayard still attached to her armor. Now, green joined the yellow in the darkness. She heard Lance moan in pain behind her, saw the monster's eyes glare hungrily at the weakest prey. The easiest prey. No way was Pidge gonna let Lance get eaten. She had a friend to protect, a friend to get back to safety, to home. And if it cost Pidge her life, then so be it.


	3. Midnight Run

Lance was drifting in and out of consciousness, memories fluttered around in his brain like those moths that used to crowd around his lamp in those early nights back in Cuba. He tried as hard as he could to pull everything together, but things just kept coming loose. He knew very little of what happened. But he did remember some things.

            Lance remembered how one of the Galra had seen Pidge, running towards her Lion, so small and caught up in the vacuum that there was no possible way she could dodge the blast. He remembered how the Galra had aimed his weapon at Pidge, and fired a beam of purple light. That’s when time seemed to slow down. “PIDGE!” He leapt towards her, surrounding her tiny body in his own large one. He felt the blast hit his back and send him flying. He tried to let go of Pidge, but his natural instincts to protect his friends had taken over, and letting go was harder than he thought.

            His back felt swollen, painful, and... _wrong._ He felt his heartbeat falter, felt the agonizing and burning pain of being unable to breath. He knew what this was, he had read about it with Marie. He was going into shock. He tried his best to pull out of it, but he felt a strong tug on his stomach, and found himself flung out into space.

            Everything from there on was a blur, a flash. He felt the familiar shaking of a panic attack and reacted almost instinctively. He remembered Pidge being worried. He remembered feeling a deep pain in his guts, and a sharp pain in his ribs. He remembered seeing Pidge’s ankle, looking mangled and grotesque. He remembered trying to help Pidge, he remembered feeling homesick. He knew he had been babbling on and on about something to Pidge, but what, he couldn’t remember. He felt his mouth change form and pitch when he switched to his native language of Spanish, back and forth.

            Back and forth. Back and forth. When he finally regained full consciousness, he was surprised to find the sky black as night. He looked around, and saw Pidge, bayard at the ready, standing between him and some strange creatures. They seemed to blend in with the night, their position only revealed by their glowing eyes and sharp teeth. Ugh. Couldn’t life just grant him a break every once and awhile?

            Painfully, he reached over to his side and pulled out his own bayard, the end of his newly formed shotgun gleaming with a brilliant blue light. Green, blue, yellow. Lance began charging his weapon, and it grew brighter. At the sudden bright light, the creatures hissed. They backed away, hiding in the shadows, biding their time. Pidge turned to face Lance. Her face was covered in cuts and black dirt, with skin showing in clear patterns of a tear stained wreck.

            “Lance.” That’s all she said. Lance just nodded, he didn’t want to feel more pain than he already in, and about to gain with his next word.

            “Run.” He pulled himself up, almost passing out again at the wave of pain, but he held his bayard high in one hand, and grabbed Pidge’s wrist, pulling her far away from the creatures, who only came as close as the darkness would allow them. Moving was a pain. He couldn’t breathe clearly, and his hands felt cold and numb. Pure adrenaline was what kept him going.

            They raced out of the dense forest and into a clearing, where a silvery glowing pool sat, serene and inviting in the distance. Light. It gave off light, something these creatures appeared to hate. Just a little bit farther. Lance tripped and went toppling forward, but Pidge caught him and steadied him. She apparently had had the same revelation as him, and was now helping bear most of his weight as she pushed them the final few feet to the pools edge. Sfe at last. The pools simple glow kept the creatures at bay. Surmising that Pidge could take care of herself now, Lance allowed the darkness to pull him into it’s sick embrace.

            Nightmare moved by too quickly for Lance to actually understand any of them. Broken and dead Paladins, an Altean funeral, family members, lost, broken, hurt, dead, captured, turned, gone. Now, Lance stood alone in the darkness. No walls, no doors, no roof, nothing. Lance collapsed onto his knees, cradling his head in his hands, Lance cried silently. Then a voice. It felt warm and caring, it felt cool and confident, it felt free and contained, happy and wistful, and all sorts of opposites. In other words, it felt...blue.

            _“My Paladin, don’t give in, help is coming, just stay safe for a few more days, please.”_

_“Blue?” Asked Lance, “Is that you?” The invisible presence began to fade away, leaving the darkness to have it’s way with Lance, “Come back!” He cried, “Please!”_

_“Just a little longer, young one.”_

_The darkness grew and grew, enveloping Lance in its empty torture for all eternity._

            Lance awoke with a start, the burning red sun had begun to make its way up into the sky, and Pidge sat, criss-crossed by the lake, staring at her reflection in the water.

            “Well well well, Who’d’ve thought, Pidgey has a Narcissus complex.” Pidge jumped at the sound of Lance’s voice,\ and turned to him. She wiped under her nose with her arm, and put on scowl. But not good enough, Lance could see her trying to hide her smile.

            “What the heck do you mean? If anyone has a Narcissus complex it’s you.” Lance waved her comment away.

“Psh, naw, I always identified more with Echo, always trying to win herself a man and failing. Although in my case, I’m always trying to win myself a woman, but for some unknown reason, they all rebuke this wonderful charm and beauty.” Pidge snorted, then smiled at him.

            “I’m glad you’re feeling good enough to joke, brat.” Lance pretended to look bashful.

            “Aw, Pi-iii-dge, I didn’t know you cared!”

            “I don’t”

            “Eh, a boy can dream.” The sun was shining, Lance was making jokes, Pidge was being sarcastic, and they had survived the night. Life seemed, in its own maniacal way, good again. Of course, Life hated Lance and wouldn’t ever give him a break. The moment shattered like glass as Lance began coughing hard again. His chest ached and breathing became impossible. Lance glanced down at his hands and saw them shaking against his will.

            “Lance?” Pidge crawled closer and placed her hand on his head. She pulled back quickly. “You’re burning up, Lance, listen, I-” She swallowed, “I really don’t know much about first aid, and it’s really stupid that I have to do this and ask you what you think is going on, so just, uh, please breath Lance, please.” Her voice sounded shaky and weak. Lance grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly, concentrating on his breathing. When he was finally able to draw in a semi-better breath, Lance tried speaking.

            “Probs’ Pneumonia.” He wheezed, “Not really bad, not great.” However, it appeared his words of ‘Comfort’ failed drastically. Pidge went as white as a ghost. “Pidge?” He asked weakly.

            “Pn-Pneumonia?” Lance nodded, confused, he thought he’d cleared that up, but Pidge just seemed as frightened as before, if not more so.

            “I’ll be fine Pidge, don’t worry.” All the color returned to Pidge’s face, mixing into an angry red and purple.

            “Fine? Fine?!” She sounded hysterical, “Lance, I had a cousin who died of pneumonia, are you telling me you’re gonna die too?!” Pidge started panting, she had a tight fist pressing down on the left side of her chest. Lance quickly pulled Pidge into a loose hug, even the light pressure causing him pain. He began smoothing down her tangled hair, trying his hardest to breath in the same calming rhythm he knew Pidge needed.

“Shh, you’re okay, just breath with me Pidge, in, out, in, out. Good.” Pidge’s frantic panting turned into choked sobs, then faded into deep breaths.”Just relax, I’m not gonna die, we’re gonna make it home before you know it, and the whole gang will be there. Safe, and, sound.”

 They would be ok, they had each other. Lance promised himself he wouldn’t let Pidge give up. Ever. He would make sure she made it out of here alive and well. Then she could go back to toying with Galra tech and making sarcastic comments here and there. He would be her support.

Unfortunately, Lance had no idea just how much support _he_ was going to need in the next few days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was shorter than most, the rest are about the same length as the first chapter though, so no worries! Thank you for your comments, they really help me keep writing and feedback on writing style and ways to improve it are much appreciated!


	4. Stand By Me

 

Pidge woke up leaning on Lance, his abnormally hot skin burned like hot coals, and beads of sweat were dripping from his face. That wasn’t good at all. Pidge looked at the silver pool next to them. She cupped her hands to make a small bowl, dipping them under, she let her hands fill to the brim with the strange silver liquid. It felt cold as ice.

            The cold seemed to reach into her very soul, and she shivered. It was unpleasant, but Pidge was grateful it was so cold. She began dumping the liquid on Lance, handful by handful, in an attempt to cool his skin. By the fifth repetition, Pidge began to wonder if they could drink it, neither she nor Lance had drunk or eaten anything for...what was it? Space time was strange, but Pidge figured it had been two days. Pidge guessed that of she and Lance didn’t get water into their system soon, it might not matter if their wounds healed. Dehydration would do them in.

            She gazed at the pool, wondering if it was safe to drink. Her parched mouth told her it was ok, but her sluggish, analytical brain whispered words of caution. Pidge had no idea what the liquid really was, and whether it could worsen the already poor health of both her and Lance.

            Pidge looked back at Lance, his chest heaving with aching, raspy, breaths. She knew he needed something to drink to help him heal faster, and she was willing to try the water first to test its safety, but what would happen to Lance if it turned out to be poison and killed her? She would be leaving Lance all by himself.

            Lance gave another hacking cough, and opened his eyes wearily. “Pidge?” he whispered, “What are you doing? Why am I wet?” he shivered, “Brr, it’s so cold.” Pidge looked down at her knees.

            “You have a fever, I was trying to cool you down with that weird silver stuff.”

            “Huh, well it certainly worked.” Lance coughed again, “So now what?” he asked Podge.

            “What do you mean?”

            “Well,” Lance explained, “We are kinda in bad shape, no Lions, no Voltron, and no aspirin.” he chuckled, “Man, what I wouldn’t give for some aspirin right now, heck, I’d even settle for those cryopods at this point, even if they did try to kill me that one time, remember that?” Pidge smiled,

            “Yeah, Hunk and I got attacked by food goo, poor Hunk was terrified of the kitchen for days. Not to mention when we also got stuck floating in midair after the artificial gravity got turned off.” Lance snorted,

            “You think that’s scary, I was almost killed, _twice._ Food goo and flying? Try being cryogenically frozen, then tossed out into space.”

            “You weren’t tossed out into space, Keith saved you, remember?” Lance looked offended,

            “That just makes the whole experience that much worse! Imagine! Being saved by Keith of all people!” Lance’s expression at that moment was so ridiculous,that Pidge couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Lance gave Pidge his old ‘I’m amazing and I know it’ smile. “There’s that stupid laugh of yours.” He said. Pidge scoffed at Lance.

“Excuse me? _I_ have a stupid laugh? Have you ever heard yourself laugh before? You sound like a dying Klanmural!” Lance was silent for a moment, then started laughing uncontrollably. His laugh then turned into another terrible coughing fit, scaring Pidge. She grabbed his arm, ready to support him should anything happen.

            Once the coughing ended, Lance said, in a very raspy voice, “You’re right, my laugh sounds like it’s been to Hell and back.” His morbid humor received no smiles. “Sorry about scaring you Pidge, it’s all my fault we’re stuck here.” His voice was dry and crackly, barely above a whisper.

            Pidge shook her head, “No Lance, it’s my fault.” Lance raised an eyebrow quizzically.

            “What makes you say that?”

            Pidge bowed her head, “If I had been watching my back like I should have, you wouldn’t have had to defend me and get injured.” Lance frowned deeply.

            “Don’t ever blame yourself Pidge, you didn’t ask to be in this war, you’re fourteen for Quiznack’s sake.”

            “I don’t think that’s how that word is used-”

            “And I don’t care, you did nothing wrong Pidge, it’s my fault for sneaking up to the roof of the Garrison, for persuading you to come with me into that dang wormhole. My fault for forcing you to join a war that had nothing to do with you, a million galaxies away from earth before you ever grew up.” Now Pidge was pissed.

            “Excuse me? You don’t get to take all that blame, I would have done it anyway, this _is_ my battle. My dad and brother were taken from me and this is my chance to get them back, to finally have a family again. And you know what? You’re the biggest A-hole I’ve ever met for even suggesting that this is all your fault, remember what Shiro said before we went through that first wormhole? We made the decision to join this battle as a _team._ ” Pidge was yelling at Lance now. All her frustration, and stress, and sorrow, finally bursting free and releasing the pressure that had building ever since day one on her chest. It felt good, Pidge felt...free.

            Lance just sat there in shock for moment, before smiling sheepishly, “Sorry..Katie.” Her eyes widened at the use of her first name. Lance frowned, “Is-is it okay for me to call you that? Katie?” Pidge thought about it for a moment.

            “Sure.” She agreed with a slight smile. Lance coughed again.

            “Is there any chance you have water on you?” He croaked. Pidge shook her head.

            “No, I’ve been considering drinking this silver stuff, but I don’t know if it’s safe. We need to drink something though, I have a feeling those creatures will be back tonight, and we’re already weak enough as it is, dehydration won’t do us any miracles when it comes to defending ourselves.” Lance just nodded, understanding.

            “So,” He began, “What’s the plan then?” Pidge thought for a moment.

            “I’ll-I’ll drink it first, see if it’s safe to-” Lance moved quicker than a viper, filling his hands with silver liquid, and dumping it down his throat. “LANCE!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!!” Pidge screeched. Lance just continued smiling.

            “Well,” he explained, “I knew that even if I objected, you would drink the stuff, and if it turned out to be unsanitary then we would lose the least crippled member of our team. This is a win-win, I die, you live and defend yourself until help comes, I live, and you know it’s safe to drink.” Pidge slapped him across the face.

            “You idiot!” she screamed, “What about you? If you die, you might never see your family or earth or any of your loved ones again!”

            “I could say the same to you.” Lance replied cooly, “After all, you still have a brother and dad to find, right?” Pidge didn’t reply.

            They sat there in silence for what felt like hours. Waiting. Just waiting for the pool water to take it’s toll on Lance. Night came, so did the monsters. Most stayed in the shadows, but those who dared cross into the light were promptly destroyed by the Paladins bayards right where they stood. Daylight came, and still, Lance showed no symptoms of poisoning. But still, Pidge waited for Lance’s heart to suddenly stop and leave Pidge on her own.

            “Katie,” Lance whispered, “I’m fine, don’t worry about me, just think about how we can get home. The transmitters in our helmets, they don’t work from long distances, but is there any way you can amplify them and send out an S.O.S code?” It was genius. Pidge didn’t know why it had taken her so long to realize she could upgrade the comm links. In her drunk and weary state of mind, Pidge almost kissed Lance, but she held back and picked up her helmet from off the ground where she had taken it off. Pidge set to work immediately while Lance just smiled dreamily. 

            Lance’s face had lost its fever red glow and become as pale as his naturally tan skin would allow. His coughing fits had ceased and his breathing was less erratic as before. Slow, calm. He had started shaking slightly a few minutes ago, but Pidge didn’t notice as she was too caught up in her work. Move that wire, flip that switch, she even added extra tech from the rest of helmet. She was so close. Finally, the transmitter was done.

            “Lance!” She cried out excitedly, “It’s done, quick, let’s see if it works!” She turned it on and listened to the static, her heart pounding in her ears. Lance crawled sluggishly over to where she was sitting.. They both sat next to each other, listening as Pidge adjusted the dial. She didn’t even feel how cold Lance was, or see his blue lips. Time moved with bated breath, until it happened.

            “Keith-tha-wha-stat-?” It was broken, but Pidge new just who it was, she adjusted the dial one more time to make the comm a little clearer, and shouted with joy.

            “SHIRO! Do you read? This is Pidge and and Lance, do you copy?” Pidge held her breath.

            “PIDGE!” it was Hunk, “Guys, I hear Pidge on the line!” Keith could be heard laughing through the other end.

            “I hear her too bud!” Shiro cried out, overjoyed, “Pidge, this is Shiro, we copy, what’s your status?” Pidge laughed, nudging Lance.

            “Hear that Lance? Shiro!” Lance nodded sleepily, but Pidge just continued talking to Shiro, “I’m sending you our coordinates now. Lance is sick, and badly injured, I have a broken ankle, but other than that, we’re fine.” Pidge sighed, they could finally go home, beside her, she felt Lance shaking, she figured it was because the rest of the Paladin’s were safe, and soon to come and save them.

            “Got the coordinates, heading to your position now…” Shiro said, “It’s good to hear your voice Katie.” Pidge’s emotions were overwhelming now, and she held down a sob.

            “Hem, g-good to hear you too bud.” Lance was shaking even more, jostling Pidge, “Lance, what on earth-” Lance’s eyes had rolled up into his head, and his muscles were rigid. His body convulsed, as if he couldn’t control any of his actions. “LANCE!”

            “Pidge?!” Shiro asked worriedly, “What’s happening?”

            “Lance, he-I think he’s having a seizure.” She tried to control her breathing, cradling Lance in her arms. “C’mon Lance, come back to me, you’ll be okay, help is on the way Lance.”

            “Okay, Pidge, stay calm, Allura’s opening a wormhole now, just stay where you are, Coran has a pod waiting back on the ship for Lance.” Shiro’s voice shook, and Pidge knew he was trying to remain calm. In the background she could hear everyone else shouting at each other, calling out random orders as they tried to prepare to rescue Pidge and Lance.

            Lance just kept quaking, random moans and sobs racked his body as his entire system worked against him. “Hurry.” Pidge whispered, not knowing whether Shiro could hear her or not.

 

            _The strong smell of cinnamon burned Lance’s nose. He was back in the darkness, but this time he saw blinding flashes of light in which Pidge was in the center, crying and holding him in her arms. “Pidge?” He whispered. What was going on? He remembered feeling cold and shaky, and also really tired. Had he passed out again?_

            _“Blue one.” Lance spun around, a shapeless silver being shifted fluidly over to where Lance was._

_“Wh-who are you?” Every inch of Lance’s body was telling him to run, but he found he couldn’t move._

_“Don’t try to run, not when your body is turning against you, you drank from my sacred pool. Now, my essence has seeped into your very mind, poisoning and corrupting everything that makes you, you Blue one.”_

_“Am-am I dying? Please, I’m sorry I...drank your essence, but my friend and I had no idea you were alive, if you could just, you know, let me go back to friend and live to warn others about you, that’s be great.” The silver blob scoffed at the idea._

_“I am an ancient being, I do not care whether you live or die, only that my water’s have been corrupted. Already, the rest of me is taking care of the other infection, the one called “Pidge”._

_“What?!” Lance saw a circle of light open up wide, revealing the outside world. Pidge was holding him close, tears streaming down her frightened face, behind her, a wave of silver was rising higher and higher, preparing to come crashing down on them and pull them into its cold depths. “Katie!” He screamed, but no sound came out. He turned to the Silver being. “I’m the one who drank you (man that sounded weird), take me, go ahead, the group doesn’t need me.” He clenched his fists tight, “But please let Katie go, she did nothing wrong!” The being appeared to think about it. Finally he came to a decision._

_“You have a brave and selfless spirit, something I have not seen in a long while. Here’s my deal, fight me in battle, win, and I let you and your friend go, lose, and I will take you both. Do not try to change the deal, you are lucky I have given you a chance to live.” Lance nodded and held out his hand to shake on it._

_“Deal.” He said. And with that, the battle to live, began._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry my last chapter was so short. I hope you guy’s like the Lance POV’s ! Also, sorry if  
> the characters seem a little OC :P. Thanks for the reviews, they really help to keep me keep  
> writing! Also, YAY! CLIFF HANGERS! (Bum, bum, bum) (I don’t know why but I really like  
> cliff hangers)


	5. Great Balls of Fire!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Ok, this story got real dark, I wasn’t really expecting it to go this way, but, oh well. But, I  
> really think that this experience will leave both Pidge and Lance with a sever case of PTSD, so I  
> may expand this story into one of those Part 1, Part 2 thingys. What do you guys think?  
> Comment your opinion below so I can come to a decision.

Pidge never even saw it coming. One minute she was sitting on the ground holding a dying Lance, the next a wave of silver crashed over her, dragging her and Lance into the depths of the pool. Pidge closed her eyes and held her breath, attempting to swim free. She was so scared of drowning with Lance, that it took her a while to register the fact that she could not only breath, but she was still sitting down. Albeit on a ground made of darkness.

            “Lance?!” Pidge looked around and saw Lance facing off against a strange silver being. To her surprise, he looked as healthy and uninjured as one could be. His armor was clean and unbroken again, and in his hand he held his bayard. He stood in a defensive position, his legs shoulder length apart, knees slightly bent, and right foot forward. He didn’t give any indication he had heard Pidge. He just kept looking at the silver being, a burning hot fire blazing in his eyes. Pidge had never seen Lance look so determined.

In all honesty, it kind of scared her. Gone was the flirtatious jokester, and all around nuisance. In its place was a man with a purpose. A man willing to kill to get what he wanted. “Lance…?” She whispered. What was going on?

            _“You have a brave and selfless spirit, something I have not seen in a long while. Here’s my deal, fight me in battle, win, and I let you and your friend go, lose, and I will take you both. Do not try to change the deal, you are lucky I have given you a chance to live.”_ Said the silver being, his voice seemed to echo from all around. Reminding Pidge of the time she and Matt had watched a horror movie for the first time with surround sound. Multiple voices, all unidentifiable, speaking as one. And it scared the hell out of her. Lance nodded and held out his hand to shake on it.

“Deal.” He said, the silver being grabbed Lance’s hand and shook it. Lance grimaced and shivered at the touch, then stepped back, and immediately began firing. Blue plasma shot out at a rapid pace, but the silver being just shifted like water and dodged every blast. Then, something similar to fire ignited on the being's hand. Silver flames flickered, then shot out at Lance.

“Lance! Look out!” But Pidge could not be heard or seen. All Pidge could do was observe. And blame herself. By now she had figured out who that being was. It was that silver pool. And now, because Lance had drunk the liquid, both he and Pidge could die. Now, Lance was fighting to save them both. And all Pidge could do was watch in desperation.

Lance saw the balls of fire come rushing at him, he managed to dodge most of them, but one managed to strike his left side. Although it didn’t seem to leave a mark or set Lance on fire, the area the fireball had hit burned like nothing Lance had ever felt before. He had heard once the being burned alive was the worst pain a human could ever experience, and Lance agreed. The pain was agonizing, and he could almost imagine the fire burning away at his insides, torturing him.

 He almost collapsed on the spot, but he had a job to do. He bit his cheek to keep from crying out, and tasted the metallic tang of blood flooding his mouth. He gripped his bayard harder and continued firing, but that little son of a motherless goat just kept dodging. Long range wasn’t working. Frustrated and angry, Lance reluctantly threw his bayard to the ground and moved in for hand-to-hand combat. Something Lance was terrible at. He was going to lose. _NO!_ He couldn’t think like that, he had to protect Katie, and no way was this stupid being going to stop him.

Pidge watched in horror was the fireball hit its mark. Lance almost collapsed in pain, but never made a sound. She saw him fire his weapon again, but to no avail. He threw his weapon and charged at the monster. Was he really planning to defeat it with no bayard? Pidge wished for hers to appear, and much to her joy, it did. Her green bayard changed its form, becoming electric, and sharp. While Lance’s bayard was for long distance, Pidge’s was for face to face fighting. She may not have been able to interfere much, but Pidge prayed that she could at least do this much.

“Lance!” She creamed noiselessly, and tossed her bayard into the battle, and watched in glee as it landed in Lance’s hand. He looked at it, smiled, then turned back to face the being, smirking. Now, he at least had a way to fight.

“Now you’re in for it.” He growled. The silver being looked as surprised as a shapeless form could look,

_“The Green one’s weapon, why does it appear for you? Your friend could not possibly have the power to aid you in the fight.”_

Lance just smiled wider, “Yeah, she’s something special alright.” He moved forward, slicing Pidge’s weapon at the creature. The being dodged, but not quite as neatly as before. Lance even managed to nick him, or was it her? Eh, Lance managed to nick it and that’s all that mattered at the moment.

The creature kept trying to create those gobs of fire, but before it could fully form one, Lance would move closer, preventing it from completing its spell. Lance moved like a viper, hitting every open spot he could find. Everything blurred together, blue, silver, green. Until only those colors remained visible.

Pidge watched Lance fight in astonishment. He moved like a master, left and right, back and forth, weaving around the silver being, hitting it with the bayard every chance he got. The fight went faster and faster, turning into a tornado of bright colors that lit up the darkness. The combatants being to fly, slowly up into the air, continuing their battle. It was so fluid and fast, it was almost like a coordinated dance number. A loud hum began to fill the area, tension growing thick and taut, ready to snap at any moment. Until it did.

A fierce burst of wind and light, then everything froze. Up in the air, Lance panted, as Pidge’s bayard lay, buried in the creatures guts.

 _“You win.”_ It whispered, and Pidge suddenly found herself flying backwards into the darkness.

Pidge opened her eyes wide, sitting up quickly as she breathed in a deep lungful of fresh air. She looked around frantically, and saw Lance, slowly awaking. He groaned and sat up. “Katie?” He mumbled. Pidge moved in and hugged him tight. “Ow, ow, ribs.” Lance mumbled, but he didn’t stop her from hugging him, and just let it happen.

“Sorry.” Pidge wiped her nose. “Glad you’re okay.”

Lance smiled, “I’m glad I’m okay too. Care to tell me what’s got you all worked up?” Pidge stopped hugging him and sat up straight, squinting as she looked Lance directly in the eyes.

“I saw you.” She said, Lance tilted his head confused, “I saw you fight that-that whatever it was.” She finished. Lance’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You were there?” He asked bewilderedly. “You saw all that?”

Pidge nodded, “Yup, who did you think tossed you their bayard? Coran?”

“No-well-I...thanks Katie,”He finally said, “You really saved my butt back there.”

“Well,” Pidge joked, “It’s a nice butt, I can’t very well let it die, now can I?” Lance stared at Pidge in shock, then burst out laughing.

“Oh my gosh Katie, was that-was that a butt joke I just heard? I thought you believed yourself above that kind of humor?” Pidge smiled.

“I do, that’s why if you ever tell any of the others what I said, I’ll kill you, no matter how nice your butt is.” They both continued laughing for a bit, then Lance gazed up at the sky, which was slowly growing dark again.”

“I can’t believe it, we’ll be going home soon.”

Pidge nodded, “Yup, soon enough, Shiro, Keith, and Hunk will arrive to take us back to the ship.” Lance sighed happily.

“Man, I can’t wait to eat Hunks weird cookin again.”

“Weird?” Pidge smiled, “I thought it was the best space food you ever ate?”

“Oh, it is,” Lance nodded his head frantically, “It’s just hard to get used to the lack of spices.”

“Spices?”

“Yeah,” Lance smiled even wider, revealing his teeth, “Onion, bell peppers, garlic, oregano, cumin, the whole works.”

Pidge smirked, “You a ‘hot-and-spicy’ kind of guy then?” Lance lifted and eyebrow.

“Am I? Hon, have you seen my body? I’m as ‘hot-and-spicy’ as they come.” Pidge chuckled. “But yeah,” Lance continued, “I love peppers, the hotter they are, the better. My favorite has to be the Red Savina pepper.”

“I’m more of a sweet and salty kind of person myself.” Pidge said.

“A little more salty than sweet I’d say.” Lance joked, Pidge nudged him with her shoulder, mouth open in mock offense. Lance shrugged, “Sorry, he said, I saw the chance and took it.”

Pidge continued where she left off, “French fries dipped in milkshakes, chocolate dipped pretzels, bacon wrapped pineapple bits-” Lance held up a hand to stop her.

“I’m sorry,” He asked, “But did you just say _‘bacon wrapped pineapple bits’_?” Pidge nodded, confused. “Aw, that’s disgusting.” Lance stuck out his tongue as if he had just tasted something horrid.

“Excuse me?” Pidge retorted, “Is this coming from the same guy who enjoys burning his taste buds off?”

“Hey, my taste buds are perfectly fine.” Lance countered.

 Pidge snorted, “I seriously doubt that statement if you think Hunks food is weird.”

“I still like it though! It’s definitely better than Corans food goo.”

“I think that’s one thing we can both agree on right there.” The nodded in sync.

“Wow,” Lance said, “We’ve been out here for so long I actually miss _Keith_. Keith of all people. Don’t tell him I said that though, He already has a false belief that we bonded that day I was in a coma. I don’t want him thinking our rivalry’s dead.” Pidge laughed.

“Did you actually forget him cradling you?”

“Him holding me is something I will continue to deny until the day I die.” He crossed his heart as if making a silent promise to himself. Pidge just kept on smiling.

            When darkness finally came, the monsters with the glowing eyes did not appear. Lance figured word of  his earlier battle with the silver pool had spread across this strange planet, and no living creature wished to face his wrath. Lance shuddered.

            He couldn’t believe Pidge had seen the whole battle. He looked down at her. She was curled up into a ball, her head rested on his thigh and she snored lightly. He stroked her hair and gazed at the unfamiliar constellations. The battle had been fierce and scary. Something Lance figured he would never forget.

            He rubbed his left side. Although the battle had been staged in Lance’s mind, the fire wound had stayed with him when he had awoken. It burned, fierce and hot. But it also felt cold and icy. Like frostbite. The wound left no mark, which meant that the pain might be permanent. Lance hoped not. It hurt like hell.

            Flashes of him stabbing Pidge’s bayard into the silver being flashed across his mind. He hadn’t expected it to bleed. But it did. Black and warm, oozing across his hands. He looked at them, but saw nothing. No blood. But Lance could still smell it, still feel it, and still see it. Both the emotional pain and the physical pain of the battle ravaged his mind. Keeping him awake and trapped in his thoughts.

            He prayed Pidge hadn’t seen the wound Lance had left on the creature. A black hole, pooling into a circle of blood. At the last second, Lance had seen the face of the creature. And that was the image that would haunt him the most. Because he now knew why there wasn’t any kind of alien on the planet. Only animals, and that silver pool.

            The creature had sucked them all in. Devouring their souls and forcing them to live a life of pain and torment. When Lance had killed the monster, he had seen their faces. Children, mothers, fathers, lovers. Old faces, young faces. All of them in pain and shock. Lance had killed them. But they were already dead. Trapped in an endless Hell.

            Lance heard their voices, all crying out the same word at the very end, _“Why.”_  Why were they dead? Why were they lonely, why were the cold and hungry, lost in the darkness.

            Why had Lance hurt them? Why did it hurt so much? Lance covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep the voices and faces away. But it was an aimless battle. He still heard them, still saw them, still felt their pain. And it was killing him. He wanted to join them, join their pain and misery. But his job wasn’t done, he still had Pidge to protect. To return her home safely. Once that was done, then he would join them, he promised. _“Just be patient, once I’m done, I’ll die too.”_

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: DO NOT FEAR, I WILL NOT ACTUALLY KILL OF A CHARACTER I’M NOT THAT  
> MEAN. Also, because of my busy schedule, once I complete this whole story (and possibly part 2  
> if you guys like the idea), then I will be taking a break from writing until after March. A fan has  
> already requested something for me to write around then, so keep an eye out for that. Until the  
> next chapter guys, toodle-oo!


	6. The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Pidge awoke to Lance shaking her awake, “Katie, Katie!” His hand lay against her back, moving in rough circles to jostle her awake.

            “Wha’is’it?” She mumbled, still waking up. Lance pointed to the sky, smiling joyfully.

            “Look up there!” Pidge did, and saw three huge shapes coming down from the sky like angels in disguise. Black, Red, and Yellow. They were saved.

            Pidge shot up like a rocket, then held her head as she almost passed out from the combination of exhaustion and mild head rush. Once her vision cleared she began waving her arms and calling out.

            “Shiro! Keith! Hunk! Down here!” Every movement hurt, but Pidge didn’t care, her wounds would be healed soon in a pod, hers and Lance’s. She leaned down and helped him stand up, then, using herself as his crutch, helped guide him over to where the Lions had landed.

            When Pidge saw Shiro come out of the Black Lion, she resisted the urge to drop Lance and run towards him. Lance noticed and took his arm off her, smiling and indicating with his head that he would be ok, and Pidge could go greet their friends. Pidge didn’t waste a second. She ran right into Shiro, ignoring the pain in her ankle, hugging her friend around the waist as tight as her little arms could. Shiro hugged back as Keith and Hunk ran over to the group.

            Hunk joined the group hug, but Keith, being as sullen as ever, just smiled lightly and crossed his arms, watching the cheerful reunion. Once Pidge was finished hugging Shiro, she grabbed his arm and dragged him over to Lance, helping steady him. AFter they dropped LAnce off in the Yellow Lion with Hunk, Pidge followed Shiro over to the Black Lion.

            “I’m so glad to see you Shiro.” Pidge said, holding back tears, “I don’t think we could have survived any longer, after the comm line broke, something...happened. Long story short, Lance and I almost died, and it was all my fault.” Pidge choked on a sob, “This entire time, I’ve been weak. I was the least injured of us both and Lance ended up being the one to take care of me.”

            “Pidge…”

            “I’m a terrible friend, Lance fought so hard to defend us both and I did nothing. I’m selfish and useless.”

            “DId Lance call you that?” Shiro asked quietly. Pidge was shocked at the question.

            “No! Lance would never say anything like that!” She couldn’t believe Shiro would even think something like that.

            “Then why do you believe yourself to be such things?”

            “Because I almost got Lance killed Shiro!” Pidge couldn’t hold back, tears started streaming down her face. “It-it’s all my fault he’s injured, I should have been the one to fight that thing-” Shiro cut her off.

            “Fight what thing Pidge?” He looked concerned.

            “I don’t really want to talk about it right now Shiro, it-it was bad though. And Lance saved us, saved us from my own stupidity!”

            “Pidge, listen to me. Someone once said to me that in times of trial, that is when we become our own enemy. Don’t try to beat yourself down because of something you believe to be true about yourself.” Pidge nodded, making herself a silent promise to never forget this moment.

            The group finished loading into their Lions, and, believing that the worst was now behind them, headed back home.

            Three weeks. That was how long Lance had been in the pod. His wounds were extensive. Broken bones, internal bleeding, pneumonia, concussions, and tons of little cuts scattered across his skin. All were healed after three weeks, but the invisible burn on his side and those faces were still there. Still causing him pain. And nothing could stop them.

            But Lance couldn’t tell them. Pidge would listen, but Lance didn’t want to bring back any bad memories for her. Shiro might understand, having PTSD himself, but Lance didn’t want to burden the already weary leaders shoulders. As for the rest of the crew, they might find Lance weak. Defeated by ghost pains and memories of a battle already won and far behind them. So Lance kept silent.

            He forced himself to eat extra food each day, to wake up after a sleepless night, to make jokes when he wanted to cry. To make things feel normal when they weren’t. To tell the crew that nothing had changed, when everything so obviously had. Pidge and him hung out more often, and that was the only change the rest of the group noticed. And that new bond between Pidge and him was to be expected due to what had happened. Life seemed as normal as it could be. But every time Lance began to feel at home, he would remember his promise. To join those poor souls trapped in an endless Hell.

            One night, after Lance awoke in a cold sweat from a forgotten nightmare, he made the decision to head to the Bridge. Outside the large, glass windows, stars and planets shone bright and beautiful in contrast to the darkness of space. Lance sat on the floor and watched the cosmos go by. He was safe, he was with his friends, he was reunited with Blue, he was healed, but he wasn’t happy. He wasn’t sad, or angry, he was...empty. He didn’t feel all there. It was as if he was made of air or light. And it was as unbearable as it could possibly be.

            He sat on that cold, hard floor until the time came for the Paladin’s to awake. He snuck back to his room, washed his face, and got dressed. He then walked out looking as if nothing was wrong.

            Pidge knew something was wrong. Lance may have not realized Pidge had noticed, but she did. She didn’t know what was wrong, but she knew something wasn’t right with Lance. She knew that Lance’s smile never reached his eyes, she knew he wasn’t feeling as hungry as he made himself look, and she knew he wasn’t sleeping as much as he used to. The problem was, she didn’t know how to approach him about it. He wasn’t talking about his problems with anyone. And so Pidge remained as clueless to his plight as all the rest of the team.

            That night, Pidge ended up pulling another all-nighter. She was trying to improve the durability of the particle barrier and it had taken longer than she had thought it would. Rubbing her eyes, Pidge shuffled down to the Bridge to test the code on the barrier. That was when she walked in on Lance sitting down and gazing all around at the surroundings. His eyes looked empty and tired.

            “Lance…?” She whispered kindly, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder. Lance turned his head slowly to look at her.

            “Katie?” He mumbled, “What’re you doin’ere?” He looked ready to pass out, fighting himself to keep his eyes open and words coherent.

“Just some nerd stuff, what’s wrong?”

“Nuthin’” Lance blushed.

“Don’t sell me that crap Lance, tell me what’s wrong. Now. Before I let Shiro know what’s going on.”

“Don’t!” Lance shot up, eyes wild, “Please, don’t tell him.”

“Then spill.” Pidge crossed her arms and sat down. She patted the ground in front of her, gesturing Lance to sit in front of her. Lance obliged, falling to the ground hard, criss-cross. He took a deep breath.

“Katie, how much did you see of that battle with that weird silver thing?” Pidge wrinkled her nose, deep in thought.

“Well, I saw the beginning, then after I tossed you my bayard, all I saw was this weird light show, after that, I saw you stab my bayard in the creature. That’s all I guess. Then we both woke up.” Lance sighed, deep and sad. Echoing deep in Pidge’s heart.

“You didn’t see its face or hear its final words then?” Pidge’s eyes widened.

“No, oh gosh, Lance, did _you_?” Lance nodded sullenly.

“Turns out, that... _thing_ , was made from the different souls it had devoured when it had landed on the planet. I saw those soul’s faces, Katie, I heard them calling out for help. I can’t get them out of my head, I-Katie, I promised them I would join them and they won’t let me rest until I do!” Now Pidge was scared, was Lance going crazy? Maybe she _should_ tell Shiro. She sure hadn’t seen any faces or heard any voices, but what if Lance was telling the truth and Pidge had just left at the wrong time, missing it all?

“Lance, are you sure? It could have been a figment of your imagina-”

“I KNOW WHAT I SAW KATIE!” Lance was yelling at her now, his eyes were crazy, “I saw them, I heard them, I can even feel that stupid burn reminding me of them at every turn!”

“Wait,” Pidge had a sinking suspicion now, “Lance, are you talking about where that thing hit you? It didn’t disappear when you woke up or heal after the pods?”

“No, I can still feel it, it’s so hot and cold at the same time Katie, and it hurts. I just want it to end Katie, I just want to die and be over with it already!” Now Pidge knew something was definitely wrong. And she had a bad feeling she knew what it was.

“Lance, I need you to stay calm, I’m going to go get Shiro, Alura, and Coran, I think they know what to do about this, alright?” Lance grabbed her arm, tight. “Ow!Lance, let go, you’re hurting me!”

“You can’t tell the Katie, you can’t!” He pleaded, he looked broken and lost, “I won’t let you tell them!” Pidge struggled, but Lance wouldn’t let go, he was losing his mind bit by bit. And only Pidge knew why.

“Sorry about this Lance.” Pidge made a fist, and hit Lance right in his solar plexus. All the air went out of Lance’s lungs with a whoosh of air, and he collapsed to the ground holding his stomach. Pidge ran. Ran as fast as she could. She didn’t bother knocking, she burst into Shiro’s room and pulled him out of bed.

“Wake up Shiro! Lance is in trouble.” Shiro wasn’t even fully awake before he found himself being dragged out of his room and toward the bridge.

“Wha’s goin’ Kat?” He mumbled, trying to understand the situation.

“That thing I was talking about, that long story? It was this weir silver pool, Lance drank some of it and ended up in some weird LSD world, I got dragged in as well and Lance had to fight for us to survive. He was wounded badly and I think it’s poisoning his mind. He thinks he’s hearing voices, seeing faces, he wants to die Shiro, _die_.”

“What?” Shiro was fully awake now, and the one dragging Pidge as his longer legs raced down to the bridge to find Lance huddled in a ball, crying. “Lance, Lance, can you hear me?” Shiro shook Lance, trying to get through to him. “Lance, please, answer me bud.” Still no response. “Pidge, go get Allura and Coran, quick!” Pidge raced off, and Shiro continued to try and bring Lance back to the real world. “Lance, come on, I need you to speak to me, alright?”

“Shiro...I told Katie no...I can hear them Shiro...for so long they’ve wanted me to join them…” This was bad. Lance was fully under the illusion that the souls of the damned her speaking to him, pleading with him to join them.

“They’re not real Lance, Allura and Coran are on their way, just hold out a little longer.” No response. “Lance, listen, Katie said you were injured by that...whatever she was talking about, can you show me where?” Lance started punching his left side as if it was the only way to end the pain.

“There...there…” He gasped. Shiro touched were Lance was hitting with his flesh arm, and immediately removed his hand. Just that small touch burned his hand with red-hot heat, or was it freezing cold ice? It was hard to tell, either way, it was not a good sign.

“Just hang on a little longer, okay bud?” Shiro whispered worriedly. “Coran and Allura are on their way.” He turned to face the doorway, “Please hurry.” He muttered to himself, “He’s running out of time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I have a serious problem when it comes to cliffhangers. Also, I would like to add that the whole LSD thing was an actual angle I was aiming for. The whole situation is based off of a real experience I had when a girl in my class passed out from OD’ing on her mom’s back pain pills. At the time it was just me and the teacher in the room and I had to get the teacher’s attention. So up until the whole dream sequence, that’s what it was like for me. Sorry if any of this triggers people, like I said before, most of what I write is fluff and little gags, and I just keep getting caught up in this whole angst stuff and I can’t stop now. I may raise the rating on this just because it has such a dark plot. Again, please comment below if you want me to do a part 2 thingy. Au Revoir!


	7. ¿Qué He Hecho Yo Para Merecer Esto!!  (What Have I Done To Deserve This?!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so, I think I’m nearing the end of this story. Just a few more chapters until Lance’s suffering finally ends! I’m thinking I write just a mini story full of fluff and humor next just to make him feel better, cause this boy needs love. TRIGGER WARNING: THIS CHAPTER DEALS WITH MENTAL PROBLEMS AND ABANDONMENT, BUT DON’T WORRY IT WILL ALL TURN OUT FINE IN THE END!

“Allura!” Pidge was banging on the princesses door with both fists as hard as she could. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, and figured that soon enough, the rest of the team would awaken to see what all the commotion was about. “Allura! I know you can hear me, so open your door you worthless, lazy, bloodsucking-” The door opened, revealing a reasonably pissed off Allura.

“What,” She growled, “Could have possibly possessed you into thinking that it was ok to wake me in the middle of the night by screaming profanities into my door?”

“Lance is in trouble, Shiro’s with him but we need you and Coran, please hurry!” Allura’s anger faded into fear.

“What’s wrong with Lance?” She said, as she threw her robe on and dashed down the hall towards Coran’s room.

“We believe it to be a wound he received in this weird dream realm. It’s making him lose his mind. He says he can hear voices, see faces. He-he says he wants to die Allura!” Pidge felt the tightness in her chest as another panic attack began to grow like a weed inside her. She tried to focus on her breathing, but it was hard to breath when running around.

Much to no one's surprise, Coran was already up and heading their direction, having been awoken to Pidge’s screaming. “Lance.” was all Allura said, and they turned towards Pidge. SHe nodded and led them quickly to the bridge, were Lance lay, cradled in Shiro’s arms as Shiro attempted to keep the boy from harming himself.

Pidge’s heart broke when she saw him. His eyes were wild and frightened, tears fell down his face as he kicked and screamed, “Please!” Pidge held back a sob at how broken Lance sounded, “Please, just let me die, make it stop!”

“Katie!” Shiro called to her, “He keeps getting worse, do you know why he started freaking out in the first place?”

“Um, I saw him sitting in here, I asked him about it, threatened to tell you about it if he didn’t talk. When I heard what he said, I knew I would have to get you any way, he grabbed my arm to stop me and things just went downhill from there.” Shiro nodded.

“His fear must be what fuels it. He seemed normal for so long because we weren’t in any bad situations for a while. You threatening to tell the others must have scared him enough for the insanity to make its presence known.” Once again, Pidge had screwed up. She should have handled it quietly. She cradled her head in her hands. How much more was Lance going to suffer because of her mistakes?

“Don’t even think about it.” Pidge lifted her head and saw Shiro glaring at her. He knew exactly what she was thinking. “Now,” He turned to Allura and Coran who watched Lance writhe and scream in horror, “We need to figure out what this wound is and how to cure it, quick, before it completely destroys his mind.” Allura unfroze first, nodding, she walked over and knelt down beside them.

“Where’s the wound.” She commanded, Shiro pointed at Lance’s left side.

“Be careful,” He warned, “I barely even touched it and it hurt like Hell.” Allura nodded, but ignored the warning and placed her hand directly on Lance’s side. She removed her hand quickly as if burned.

“Oh my, this...this is a bad wound. It has no physical form, and wasn’t healed by the pod. Which means it’s all in his head, but why?”

“Because it was  _ in  _ his head that Lance was injured.” Pidge’s eyes widened in realization. “The wound never healed because it’s in his head.”

Coran gasped, “I think I know a way to heal it, but we will require the rest of the Paladins in order to work.”

“We’re already here Coran.” Pidge spun around to see Keith and Hunk join the group. Keith was the one who had spoken, and he did _not_ look happy. Hunk, on the other hand, looked downright terrified.

“We heard you screaming Pidge, what’s going on here?” Hunk saw Lance, curled up in Shiro’s arms, “What’s wrong with Lance?!” Hunk was hysterical now. Lance was,  _ is _ , his best friend, so his reaction was to be expected.

“Long story short, Lance was injured in a dream scape and now he’s losing his mind, now hurry Coran, what do we need to do now?” Pidge was trying to speed things up, Lance needed help  _ right now _ . Good explanations would have to wait. Coran agreed with her.

“Lance requires a team to venture into his mind and help heal him from the inside out. Due to all of you already being connected by your status as a Paladin, it will be easier for all of you to go in and help.”

“Great idea,” agreed Hunk, “Now how do we do that?” Coran pressed a button on the control, and a small drawer popped open. Inside was the strange head gear they used to look inside each others, “head-holes”.

“Put these on, I’ll link you up to Lance.” All the Paladins obliged and hurriedly put the head gear on. They felt a pop of electricity as the world around them began to fade away. “Be careful, for you will be digging farther into Lance’s mind than you ever have before.” Were the last words they heard Coran say, as the everything finished dissolving.

Keith opened his eyes. Then closed them again, tight. Because no way in Hell was he seeing this. A maze. Made up of glowing tv screens. He opened his eyes slowly. Yup. The sky above was a shade of blue Keith didn’t recognize, and palm trees swayed in every corner of the maaze. The air smelled of the ocean, and humidity mixed with a salty spray.  Above, a seagull could be seen, crying out into the soft breeze. Keith could also hear the sound of a static tape mixing with the thousands of voices, all speaking spanish. Keith looked closer at the tv screens.

The most faded showed the blurry face of a tired mother, cradling her son for the first time. No sound came from this one. As Keith continued through the maze, he came to the realization that these were memories. The deeper Keith went, the clearer the screens were, and the louder the volume was. 

A small boy blowing out a candle on a single, unfrosted cupcake. A girl pecking him on the cheek, making him glow. His first fight, first date (Oh wow, that was an awkward memory), first heartbreak (immediately after that first date), first loss, first funeral. That was when Keith noticed that each of the memories was tinged a different color. Gray, blue, pink, yellow, red, each color symbolizing the boy’s feelings in each memory. As Keith dug, further and further, into the the memories, he began to recognize the boy. It was Lance, these were  _ Lance’s  _ memories.

Each screen grew clearer and clearer, until Keith recognized the Garrison. He saw Lance’s joy mixed with sadness for all the loss he had to experience to make it this far. He saw Lance meet his first friend, Hunk. He saw Lance’s determination to beat that kid with the stupid mullet and make it to fighter class, saw his disappointment when he failed. He watched as Hunk helped Lance gain a better understanding of the English language until almost no one could hear his Cuban accent, saw Lance forget words in English and feel like an idiot when he screwed up He saw Lance try his hardest to be the best cargo pilot, then get moved up to fighter class because Keith had been kicked out. He saw Lance get bullied by almost everyone, including the teachers, for not being as good as Keith.

_ That’s why. _ Keith suddenly understood.  _ Lance always wants to fight me to prove he can do things just was well as I can. _ Keith was beginning to learn more and more about Lance, why he goofed off, why he cared so much about family, why he was so competitive. He saw his insecurities and fears. Who knew that Lance of all people was afraid of being abandoned? Who knew that Lance had lost a baby sister to a miscarriage? Who knew that Lance had a stepfather? His first having abandoned his family when Lance was just a little boy, after the loss of the baby girl. He knew.

Keith knew that Lance joked because he hated to see his family cry or be sad. That Lance wanted his younger siblings to never feel like they had lost a father, so he worked hard to never let anyone feel like their stepfather was just that, not their real father. He knew that Lance never once referred to him as  _ stepfather,  _ always _ Papa _ . Keith knew that Lance wanted to succeed, like Maria, to make the family proud, to show that his _ Abuelo’s _ sacrifice was not in vain.

He wondered, as he entered the center of the maze, if the rest of the group was seeing what he was seeing.

Hunk couldn’t believe it when he woke up inside a small restaurant of all places. What a coincidence that Hunk of all people would end up somewhere food was involved. He sniffed precariously, and smelled the delicious aroma of spices, peppers, and cooking oil. He listened carefully and could hear the sizzling of a pan, the laughing of two people in love with both their work, and each other. He felt a tug on his shirt and looked down, there, smiling up at him, was a small boy dressed in an old shirt, slightly too big for him, and raggedy pants. The boy’s feet bore no shoes, only a thick layer of dirt and sand. He had large blue eyes, and a wide smile.

“ _ Hola señor, como estas?”  _ He asked, Hunk stood there confused, he didn’t know a whole lot of Spanish, just certain cuss words Lance had taught him that Hunk had vowed never to use.

“Um, hello.” He said warily, patting the boy’s head. “And who might you be?”

“I’m  _ Luciano,  _ but you can call me Lance!” Lance? “You must be American, what’s it like up there? Is it true you have as much gold as the sun?”

“What? Um, no, that-I’ve never heard that analogy before. It must be a misconception.” Tiny Lance just nodded, as if everything he was saying made perfect sense.

“That’s what  _ mi Abuelo _ tells me, he also say’s that Americans have the power to wish on a star and have it come true! Is that another micson-miconct-” Lance screwed up his face, attempting to say the word right, “Miconcipcion?”

“Um, yeah, that’s just something we say, it’s not true.”

“Oh.” Lance looked sad, “I was going to ask if you could make a wish for me.”

“Um, a wish for you?” Hunk knelt down to the height of the small boy, “What’s your wish?” 

Lance smiled widely, “So you  _ can  _ make it come true?”

“Um, yeah, sure.” Hunk didn’t want to lie to Lance, but he also didn’t want to make him sad. Afterall, Hunk reasoned, sometimes a white lie is needed now and again. But that still didn’t make him feel better.

“Come closer, so I can tell you, it’s a secret!” Hunk obliged, and moved closer so Lance could whisper in his ear.

_ “ I want to touch the sky like Abuelo.”  _ Touch the sky?

“What do you mean?”

“ _ Abuelo  _ told me that when he was younger, he used to go up into the sky and have conversations with the stars all the time! He knows all their names and told me that he told them all about me. He even said that they’re very excited to meet me!” Lance nodded wildly, his eyes sparkling. Space travel. That’s what he was talking about.

“Well,” Hunk said, smiling, “I promise you that all of your wishes will come true, just keep working hard, you’ll get there someday!” Lance jumped into Hunk’s arms and hugged him tight.

_ “Gracias.”  _ He said, then Hunk looked up and found that everything had vanished, leaving behind what looked like the center of a maze.

Shiro opened his eyes and found himself sitting in a dark room. The walls were made of broken stone, and in the middle he could see a large blanket, spread out on the dirt floor. Laying across it were several small children. Most of whom were asleep, but one was awake. A boy, probably about ten. He was sitting up, curled into a ball, crying softly. Shiro could hear a man and woman, yelling at each other in rapid spanish from another room. Shiro recognized the pattern. It was a married couple having a spat. He heard the man say something, the woman sobbed, and then the slamming of a door, the revving of a car. And all that was left was the crying of a broken hearted woman.

The small boy cried harder, and Shiro felt the need to comfort the boy. He moved closer, and everyone else around them disappeared, leaving only the room, makeshift bed, and the crying boy behind. But Shiro ignored this, and sat beside the boy, pulling him into his arms.

“Hey there bud, you ok?” The small boy acted as if it was perfectly normal that this strange and foreign man was supposed to be here.

“ _ Papa  _ doesn’t love  _ mama _ anymore, he left after  _ mama’s  _ baby died. Without even saying goodbye to me. Does that mean he doesn’t love me either?”

“What? Why would you say that?”

“I must have done something wrong for him to leave, what if  _ mama _ leaves me too? Or  _ tio y tia _ ? Am I a bad person? Does my family not love me?” Shiro was angry now.

“How dare you think that, of course your family loves you!”

“Then why did he leave?”

“That man is not your family, that’s why he left. Family sticks by you, loves you no matter what, that man had no love in his heart. He’s selfish, that’s why he left.”Shiro had no idea what  the situation was, but Shiro understood those feelings. His own mother had left them when he was younger. It had hurt like Hell, and he knew this boy was feeling the same way. It wasn’t until he was older that Shiro had learned what he had just told this boy.

“But why did he choose now to be selfish?”  The boy sobbed harder.

“Tell you what, erm, what’s your name?”

“Lance.” Shiro’s eyes widened.

“Oh, well then...Lance, sometimes...sometimes bad things happen, and when those bad things happen, people change. But here’s the thing, we get to choose how we change. You said your sister died?” Lance nodded in such a heart broken way, Shiro couldn’t resist pulling the boy into a hug. “When your sister died, that man changed. But he chose to change in a bad way. He became selfish, but you Lance, can change too.”

“I can?”

“Yup, you can become what that man was not. Selfless and caring. Your family needs someone like you. Someone who can make them happy, give them the love that your father took for himself.”

“I can do that?”

“Yup, and if you’re ever running low on love to give, feel free to take some of mine, I’ve got plenty to go around.”

“But what if you run out too?” Lance gazed up at Shiro, his eyes large in wonder.

“Then I got you, it’s a big cycle Lance, what comes around, goes around. Whatever you give will return to you, and the cycle continues.”

“But what if I give it to someone selfish, like  _ mi papa _ ?”

“Stop calling him that!” Shiro glared at Lance, and the boy curled up into a ball, fearful. Shiro’s expression softened. “He isn’t your father, he lost the privilege of having you as a son when he left.” He squeezed Lance close to his chest, “Giving love to someone selfish is something people do every day. It will happen to you more than once bud. But that shows how loving you can be. And when that happens, your family will be right there to help fill you back up.” 

They sat there, curled up together in silence for what must have been hours. Because when Shiro glanced through the hole in the wall that served as a window, he saw bright sunlight, slowly making its way towards them. Shiro felt Lance shift, and he looked back down at the small figure.

“Hey  _ señor _ ?”

“Yes Lance?”

“Can you be my new  _ papa _ ?” Shiro gazed at Lance in amazement, and swallowed the ball of emotions that had grown in his throat.

“Sure thing bud.” Lance smiled, then everything faded away, leaving behind what looked like the center of a maze.

Pidge was very confused. She was sure her eyes were open, and yet, it was pitch black all around her. 

“Hello?” She called out tentatively, “Is anyone there?”. No answer. “Shiro? Keith? Hunk?...Lance?”, a snicker, then a tall and lanky figure came out of the darkness. It was Lance. Everything about him looked the same, except...his skin shone with a soft yellow glow. “Um, Lance?”

“Lappy!” Pidge shook her head as if to rid herself of the confusion that racked her brain.

“I’m sorry, did you just say...Lappy?” Before Lance could answer, another figure appeared. It was another Lance, only this one had a deep red glow instead of yellow.

“Ugh, how many times have I told you, enough with the stupid nicknames!”

“Aw, comon Langry, they’re funny! Admit it, you like yours!” Lappy started cartwheeling, Langry just crossed his arms and scowled.

“Umm…” Pidge decided she better interrupt before things got out of hand, “Can either of you tell me what’s going on?” Langry kept scowling. Lappy did a handstand, then walked on his hands over to Pidge.

“You haven’t figured it out yet?” Lappy laughed as if Pidge’s confusion was the funniest thing he had ever heard. He fell over, landing criss-cross in front of her. “We’re Lance’s emotions!”

“Lance’s...emotions?”

“Yupperooni!” Lappy clapped his hands. “Betcha can’t guess which ones we are!” Pidge was very tempted to say Lappy was the annoying emotion. But, that would be a stupid answer as annoying wasn’t an emotion.

“I’m guessing you’re happiness, and the emo Lance in the corner is anger.”

“DO NOT, call me emo.” Langry yelled, before returning to his brooding.

“Correctimundo!” Lappy said. Pidge felt a chill go down her spine, a large hand placed itself on her shoulder, and a voice whispered in her ear,

_ “You always were so clever Katie.”  _  Pidge leapt away, squealing and rubbing her ear.

“What the Hell was that?!” She turned around to see a new Lance. This one complete with a rosy glow. Lappy screwed up his nose.

“That’s Lance’s ‘Love’ emotion, I haven’t come up with a nickname for him cause if I mash the name and emotion together, it’s still love.”

“Oh.” Pidge shied away from this Lance. She didn’t like the way he eyed her. A fourth Lance entered the ring, this one glowing a dull grey. Lappy rolled his eyes.

“Just great, that’s all we need, Langst.” Langst? Pidge knew exactly what word Lappy had mashed with the name Lance, and she had a distinct feeling she wasn’t going to enjoy this Lance.

She was right. Langst burst into tears. “Come on guys, stop treating me like a seventh wheel.”

“Seventh wheel?” Pidge wondered out loud, “But there’s only four of you here! Are there more?” Lappy nodded energetically.

“Yup! There’s Lenvy, Lear, and of course, Leal, but he’s lost right now, so there’s technically only six of us right now.”

“Where are the rest?”

“Lenvy will be here any second, once he realizes we’ve had you all to ourselves for this long. Lear’s a scaredy cat, so he’ll be here last.” The others nodded, affirming his words.

“No,” Pidge continued, “There’s way more than seven emotions, there’s billions! You can’t just sum them up in  _ seven  _ emotions.”

“Technically six, Leal is lost, and he’s technically not an emotion. But yes, there are way more emotions. But they don’t have physical forms like us, Lance feels us the most, so we took on his appearance in order to interact with you.” Podge nodded.

“Ok, I think I get it now.”

“AT LEAST YOU GET SOMETHING.” Another Lance appeared. His face was red from envy, which was a strange contrast to his skin, which glowed a subtle green. “YOU KNOW WHAT I GOT?! NOTHING, CAUSE THESE SO CALLED ‘FRIENDS’ DECIDED TO HAVE FUN WITH THE INTRUDER WITHOUT ME.”

“That’s Lenvy if you couldn’t tell.”

“Uh huh.” Pidge was ready to leave now. Correction, she had been ready to leave since this whole ordeal had begun. The Love Lance (ugh, that was so weird), stepped forward and hugged Pidge, squishing her face into his chest.

“Stop it Lenvy, you’ll scare Katie!” He ran his hand through her hair, then knelt down to look Pidge directly in the eyes. “You okay Katie? If this is too much for you we can take a break, maybe drink some lemonade or something?” His smile was cavity sweet, and Pidge had to remind herself that there was no way someone could fit a whole galaxy in one persons eyes. Let alone one star.

Her cheeks burned red, and she pushed him away. “I’m fine, now listen, I need to find the REAL Lance, he’s injured and needs my help.”

“We already told you,” Langry growled, “Leal is lost.” Lappy clapped his hands.

“See! I knew you liked my nicknames!”

“Shut up! No I don’t”

“At least you  _ have  _ a nickname Langry!” Lenvy complained.

“But,” Sobbed Langst, “You already have one! Lenvy! And it’s way better than mine, mine sounds like the title for a bad fanfiction!” Langst burst into heavy tears, unable to continue.

Lenvy however, was still not satisfied, “Yeah, sure, but all of you put together still have more nicknames than me!”

“THAT’S BECAUSE THERE’S MORE OF US THAN YOU!” Roared Langry.

“Which is totally unfair!”

“Please everybody, just hug it out and everything will be fine.” Love/Lance opened his arms wide for a hug that only Lappy would join in on. The rest continued arguing.

“ENOUGH!” Screamed Pidge, who had had just about enough of this. She hoped the other Paladins were having as much trouble as her. “You guys need to SHUT UP and HELP ME!!”

All was silent, except for a meek voice, “Please stop yelling.” A glowing purple Lance made his appearance, cowering in the middle of the group.

“You must be Lear.” Pidge concluded. Lear nodded.

“P-pleased to meet your acquaintance m-miss.” He stood up slowly and meekly held his right hand out to shake. His left he kept buried in his pant pocket. Pidge shook his hand warily.

“Tell me Lear, do you know where I can find the real Lance?”

Lear nodded, “Since Leal lost himself to a false fear, I’m the only one who can find him, but it’s going to be dangerous, you shouldn’t go.”

Pidge thought for a moment, “Lear, do you know the purpose of fear?”

“To make us a coward.” Langry mumbled, Pidge shut him up with a single glare. Turning back to Lear, she continued.

“Fear is important, because naked courage leaves one defenseless. Without fear, soldiers wouldn’t know to watch their back.” Pidge looked down, tears blossoming in her eyes. (Her sadness didn’t keep her from pushing Love/Lance away when he went in for a hug). “If I had had enough fear during that mission, enough to keep an eye out for myself, this never would have happened.” She turned her face back to fear, a new fire burning in her eyes, “That’s why your important Lear, now, Lance needs you, so will you please help me?”

Lear looked tentative for a moment, then, finally, “Ok.” He held out his hand, and, waving goodbye, Pidge took hold. All the other Lance’s disappeared, leaving only Lear.

He lead her, deeper and deeper into the darkness, only his faint purple glow lighting the way, until a brighter, blue glow appeared in the distance. Lear faded away, until it was only Pidge and the blue glow.

“Whelp, here goes nothing.” Pidge swallowed down any unnecessary fear, leaving only her fear for Lance, and pushed herself through the blue glow. Only to find herself in what looked like the center of a maze.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this chapter too a lot longer than I thought it would, but it’s also a few pages more than what I usually write :/ This was a lot of fun to write. I feel like I learned more about Lance as I wrote it! (which is dumb since I’m the one who came up with the background story in the first place)


	8. One From The Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I have so much fun writing this, you guys have no idea. I should probably be doing homework or practicing my lines...meh. WARNING: I’m sorry, I know I said mild language, but there’s a character in here who I felt could only be described by some...er...we’ll go colorful words. They’re all in Spanish though, so there’s that.

Pidge kinda missed those stupid emotions. Compared to this, hanging with them was a downright vacation. All around her stood the other three Paladins. Hunk was smiling like he was doped up on something, Keith looked like he was having an existential crisis, and Shiro was staring up into the sky, blinking like a madman, as if trying to decide whether to cry or punch a wall.

Pidge took a few steps back from Shiro. Just in case.

“So, ahem.” Pidge coughed into her fist awkwardly, “I’m guessing you guys met the Emotions as well?”

Keith shook his head in disbelief, “What are you talking about? Didn’t you have to find your way through the maze too?”

“Um, no.” Pidge turned to the others, “So, if we all got something different, what did you guys get?”

Hunk clenched his fists close to chest, shifting his weight from foot to foot excitedly, “Ooh, ooh!” He said, “I got to meet Lance, only he was smaller!” Shiro snapped his head towards Hunk.

“How young.” Although it was a question, Shiro said it like a command.

Hunk thought about it, then, waving his hand in a so-so motion, he said, “About five I’d say. It was in this restaurant-”

“It belonged to his Aunt and Uncle.” Interrupted Keith.

Hunk nodded, “Ok, yeah, so he was little and started asking me about America, told me his... _ Abuelo _ , whoever that is, told him all this weird crap about it and how Lance would one day end up in space. He asked me to grant his wish, and I told him I would try.”

Pidge nodded, “Ok, what about you Shiro?”

Shiro froze, “I-I don’t think it’s my place to share what I saw, it wasn’t a very happy meeting with Lance. All I can say is that something really sad happened when he was about ten.”

Keith glanced at Shiro, “I think I saw that memory, it has something to do with his dad, right?”  

Shiro frowned, “That man was not his dad Keith, he was just a guy who hurt Lance, that’s it.”

Pidge was thoroughly confused, but she let the matter drop. “Ok, so Hunk saw Lance’s dreams, Shiro saw Lance’s fear or secret or whatever, Keith saw Lance’s memories, correct?” She glanced at Keith who nodded, so she continued, “And I saw Lance’s emotions, all different parts of who Lance is, and, in the end, we all ended up here. This place must be important, Lear said this is where we would find Leal, er, Lance.”

“Lear?” Keith raised an eyebrow.

“Not important. What’s important right now is finding out why we’re here.”

“I think I can help with that.” Lance appeared from behind a large palm tree that sat in the corner of the maze. He was slouching, one hand raised in greeting, the other in his pocket.

“Lance!” Pidge cheered she rushed forward and hugged him, “Are you ok?” Of course not! That’s why we came, so where’s the injury, do you know how to heal it?”

Lance laughed, “Calm down Katie, I’m just a small part of Lances, well,  _ my  _ head. I managed to form a physical body for you to speak to, but I’m fading, fast. We don’t have much time, once the poison from the wound finishes its job, everything here will be lost forever. Including you.”

“You don’t sound like our Lance…” Keith leaned in accusingly.

Lance chuckled, “Like I said, I’m just a small part, weak, fading, I’m just a shadow of what I used to be.”

Pidge noticed how, although he shared the same attributes of Lance, he looked slightly different. His eyes were more gray than blue, his clothes looked bleached, and his skin gave off an unhealthy aura.

“He’s right Keith, it’s Lance, but...Not-Lance.” Not-Lance smiled, “Ok,” Pidge said, “Can you help us find a way to heal you?”

Not-Lance’s smile flipped to a frown, “You could die.”

Pidge nodded, “We know, but you could die too, so let us help you.”

Not-Lance thought about it, took a deep breath, then sighed, finally coming to a conclusion. “Alright.” He waved his hand, and the scenery changed. It was black, like the area Pidge had found the emotions in, but distorted faces spun around a prone figure in a tornado of silver. Voices clamored around for all to hear.

_ “Useless…” “Seventh Wheel…” “Promised...you promised….” “Pain…” _

Shiro, upon seeing Pidge’s look of horror, grabbed her hand and held it tight. He reached out his other towards Hunk, who grabbed Shiro’s hand, then Keith’s with his free hand. They stood, an awkward and scared, a band of misfits made strong by their linked hands. Together, they pushed through the tornado of screaming and marred faces. Faces that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. The voices pushed against them, attempting to split the group apart and put an end to their heroic attempt. But none could break the link.

After much strenuous effort, they reached the figure in the middle. “Lance!” Pidge called out, but her voice could not be heard. They pushed closer, and circled Lance. He was pale and feverish, he panted and gasped for air that was not there. His eyes were screwed up in pain, and his hands clutched his left side. The wound was like nothing Pidge had ever seen.

A bubbling silver burn, surrounded by blackened dead skin. Long scars of darkness stretched in lightning shaped patterns, and little silvery wisps flew from the wound, joining the whirling tornado of painful voices. Pidge reached out to touch the wound, and withdrew her hand in a gasp of pain, she clutched the injury, bringing it close to her chest. It burned like fire and ice, and Pidge thought that if she ever ended up in Hell, this is what it would feel like.

“How do we heal it?!” Keith yelled.

“I don’t know!” Shiro called back, and for the first time since Pidge had met Shiro, she saw a look of fear in his eyes. Not the normal fear she saw when they battled, but a look of downright terror. And it scared the hell out of her.

Shiro had no clue what to do. And that was a new feeling. Even when he was taken by the Galra, he at least had the knowledge that he had to escape, and others who knew how to do it. Now, Shiro had no help. No one to guide him through this, to help him heal Lance. Pidge, Keith, Hunk, they all depended on him.  _ Lance _ depended on him. And now, Shiro was about to let them all down. He was about to fail.

Lance screamed in agony and opened up his eyes. Shiro let go of Hunk and Pidge, and grabbed Lance’s hand. “I’m here bud, we all are, you’re gonna be ok.” No, he wasn’t. Because Shiro was a failure.

“Shi-ro?” Lance pushed out through gritted teeth.

“Yup, me, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge, the whole gang. How ya feeling?” A stupid question.

“Great, just dandy, how bout’ you?” Shiro smiled despite himself, Lance was still Lance, unto the very end.

“We’re great Lance, bored outta our minds without you, but great.” It was Keith who answered Lance, he looked mad. “Tell me, when are you gonna stop letting that stupid wound get the better of you and get back to being Paladin of Voltron?”

“Wound? What wound?” Lance joked, he breathed in sharply and clenched up as another wisp flew from the burn. “Oh, that wound.” He muttered weakly.

“Enough jokes, please Lance.” Hunk sobbed, and Shiro was once again reminded that Hunk had been Lance’s friend for far longer than any of them, and therefore shared a special bond with the boy.

“Sorry bud, just trying to keep my mind off...off the...off the PAIN!” Lance shouted the last word, and curled up into a ball, groaning as tears fell down his face.

“Lance,” Shiro began worriedly, “Lance bud, I know it hurts, but we need you to stay with us, ok?” 

Lance nodded, “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere, not in this condition.”

“Good, now, do you know what’s going on?”

“Um, not really, I know I got injured and I killed the guy that did it, but I don’t know how or how you guys are here. Unless Katie got to you guys somehow.” Shiro turned to look at Pidge, who had been awfully quiet this whole time. Her face was expressionless.

“Lance, we came and got you guys, you spent three weeks healing, then got right back to work like nothing had ever happened, do you really not remember all that?”

“Nope, doesn’t ring a bell.”

“But, you...you spoke to us...told us what was wrong…”

“That wasn’t me, I’ve trapped in this Hell hole for who know how long.”

“Then who-”

“It must be me you’re talking about.”

Shiro jumped out of skin, seriously, what was up with this place and people appearing from thin air? He turned to see (for like the umpteenth time) another Lance. Now complete with glowing silver eyes, and when he said that, he meant  _ all silver _ , no pupils, no irises, just a whole glob of silver. Wonderful. Silver Lance gave off a vibe that made Shiro feel sick to his stomach. “And who might you be?” He asked.

“I go by many names, but you may call me Mentira.”

“Yo, Mentira, I know I’m good looking and all, but do ya mind not mimicking me? It’s kinda weird.” Lance grunted in pain and clutched his side again, another silver wisp.

“I apologise for any discomfort, is this better?” He shifted his form and became a silver-eyed Shiro, then a silver-eyed Keith, Hunk, and finally Pidge. Shiro’s stomach churned again when Pidge gazed at him with wide silver eyes.

“Not really, no.” 

Mentira, smirking, shifted back into Lance. He turned towards the other Paladin’s, “I knew that you folks would do everything in your power when you realized the injury Lance had, so I cut off a small part of Lance to convince you he was fine, while the rest was trapped here, slowly dying. Unfortunately, since he was missing most of what he was, this Lance was hollow, a faded copy ready to collapse at any moment. And he did, once your little friend here got involved.” He gestured towards Pidge, “She spooked him enough to finally break, alerting to you guys that something was wrong. In fact, I think you met that part of Lance already, he’s the one who led you here.”

“Not-Lance?” Keith asked incredulously, “But, we thought he was helping us!”

“You thought wrong, I was in control the whole time. I figured that since you folks were already inside his mind, I might as well kill you as well as Lance. And better way to convince you to come than reverse psychology? So Not-Lance, as you call him, tried to dissuade you from coming. And it worked!” He raised his arms high as if showing off, “I’m a genius, don’t you think?”

Lance snorted and wrinkled his nose in distaste, “Seriously dude? You just pissed off the most powerful group of humans in the universe, big time. Genius is not a word I’d use to describe you.”

Mentira growled, “No matter, I’ll kill you all and become known as the most powerful being in the universe, just you watch. I’m already winning, after all, you’re dying, aren’t you? And once you’re dead, your friends will be trapped here, forever. Stuck inside a broken mind.” He laughed cold heartedly, “I win, you lose.”

That was when Pidge snapped. Her hand flew out of nowhere and slapped Mentira across the face with a sharp  _ crack _ . “How dare you…” Pidge’s voice trembled, “How  _ dare  _ you harm Lance, how  _ dare  _ you use our friend against us.” Her eyes were dry, but the look she gave Mentira was so ferocious, that Shiro and the others all back away instinctively. “You’re a monster.”

Mentira looked shocked at first, his left cheek swollen and red, but his face eventually settled back into a sneer. “”Nicknames don’t change the facts Katie, you’re still gonna die inside Lance’s mind.”

“Wrong. I don’t intend to die in anyone else’s head but my own.”

“Brave words for one so small, don’t you think so Katie?”

“Stop calling her that.” To both Shiro’s horror and amazement, Lance stood, unsteadily upon his feet. He was shaking from head to toe, beads of sweat lined his face like a mask, and he clutched his left side painfully.

“Lance-”

Lance held out a hand to silence Shiro. “Listen muchacho, we had a deal. I kill you, my friends and I go free. Are you backing out?” Deal? What was Lance talking about?

Mentira raised an eyebrow, “I’m not the one backing out,  _ you  _ are the one backing out. As I told you before, I am an ancient being, a simple cut from a weapon fit for a child is not enough to kill me. I had won the battle as soon as I got a hit in. Now, just like we agreed upon, you and your friends will die by my hand.”

Lance was shaking harder now, both from pain and anger. “Well, sorry to burst your bubble  _ comemierda,  _ but I’m not dead yet, which means I still have a chance to kill you, so no backing down, alright?”

_ (Authors Note: The reason this insult is in spanish is because I said  _ **_MILD_ ** _ language, but uh, Lance just basically called him something  _ **_VERY_ ** _ nasty, also, craps about to hit the fan, so any harsh language will be translated into spanish, feel free to look up the meaning if you want to, they have a  _ **_LOT_ ** _ of weird swears…) _

“Lance, what the HELL are you doing?” Shiro grabbed on of Lance’s arms, “Are you  _ trying _ to get yourself killed?”

“Psh, naw, I’m just trying to get this  _ cabrón  _ killed.” Shiro had no idea what Lance had just called Mentira, but he had the distinct feeling he didn’t want to.

“Lance,” He whispered in Lance’s ear urgently, so the others couldn’t hear, “I’m not stupid, I know the look of someone who plans to die for others, I’ve worn it myself a couple times. I’m telling you right now, that dying to save us is not an option. We all live, or we all die. Just know we’re by your side the entire time.”

“Alright Yoda.” Lance grumbled jokingly. He smiled at Shiro, “Good pep talk, a little depressing though, you’ll have to work on it for next time.” Lance winked to show Shiro he understood.

Shiro smiled, “Go get em’ tiger.”

Lance nodded, and pulled a newly formed bayard from his side, he willed it to open, and a large shotgun formed in his hand. “No goodbye kiss MJ?”

Shiro punched him softly on the arm, “Enough jokes Romeo, you got a battle to win.”

Lance laughed, and turned to face the rest of his friends. Hunk had silent tears trailing down his cheeks, Keith looked ready to kill, and Pidge was expressionless. “Welp,” Lance said, “It’s been a pleasure kicking butt with you all, may we continue to do it somewhere less personal next time, aight’?”

Keith snorted, “An idiot to the very end.” His expression softened, “But still one hell of a friend.” He held out his hand to shake.

Lance raised and eyebrow, grabbed the hand, and pulled Keith into a hug, “Friends don’t shake hands  _ güey. _ ”

_ (Authors Note: That one wasn’t a swear, it’s a term of endearment :D) _

As Keith and Lance broke apart, Hunk finally gave in to his emotions and hugged Lance. “Listen,” He said, “I know I haven’t been the best friend but-”

“Hunk, you’re the greatest friend a guy like me could ask for, I’m the one who needs to work on being a better friend. Hopefully this helps make up for all the trouble I’ve caused you.”

“It makes up for it and then some.” They hugged one last time, Hunk was careful to avoid the wound, which was worsening each second.

Lance turned towards Pidge, arms wide open, “Well  _ chica _ ?” 

Pidge glared at him and he dropped his arms, growling, she said, “You better win, because if you lose to that son of a bi-”

“Pidge…” Shiro warned, he may have let the others get away with swearing, but Pidge was younger than the rest, and he felt a need to play the role of her father since hers was currently in the hands of Galra. Shiro was pretty sure Sam wouldn’t let Pidge get away with swearing.

“Whatever,” Pidge continued, “To sum things up, if you die, I’ll kill you.”

“Duly noted.” Said Lance.

“How touching, saying your last goodbyes?” Mentira interrupted, smiling.

“Nope!” Responded Lance, joyfully, “Just a few hellos and a friendly conversation, ready to get your butt handed to you  _ pendejo _ ?”

Mentira opened his palm and engulfed his hand in a silvery fire. Shiro swore he would rid the castle of all things silver after this.

It wasn’t that he was stupid. Oh no, Lance got pretty good grades back in school, he was bilingual, and he could tell you the basic parts of a fighter class ship, he wasn’t stupid at all. Lance was just dumb. Plain and simple. Lance was always doing dumb things. Like smoking that cigarette, sneaking out of the Garrison, losing his lion, the list was endless. 

But facing up against an ancient being that looked like a carbon copy of him (minus the silver eyes and fire power), while dying of some magicalish wound was possibly the dumbest. One could even say that that one choice qualified him to be stupid.

It felt like someone had placed a white hot poker to his side, and every inch of his body burned blazing hot and frigid cold. Everything ached, and his legs were cramping up. But Lance couldn’t let his friends know just how much pain he was in. Not if he didn’t want them to worry. Lance had lost so many family members to death, sorrow, and intergalactic battles, he wasn’t going to lose any more. Especially to this sadistic  _ cabrón _ .

Wow. Lance was lucky his  _ mama  _ wasn’t here to hear Lance. She’d have a heart attack for sure around that kind of language.

Lance began approaching Mentira, every step increasing his pain tenfold. His chest felt heavy, and his head fuzzy. Breathing was difficult. Lance paused, pressing himself to get just one good breath in.

“Are you sure you wish to continue fighting? Every move you make will only increase your chance of dying you know.” Mentira raised an eyebrow mockingly, “Do you really want your friends to watch you die in vain?”

If Lance wasn’t pissed off before, he was now. “ _ Pudrete en el infierno, tú hijo de puta. _ ” He growled. Lance lifted his bayard, “ _ Pudrete en el infierno. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh...I had actually finished these last 3 chapters last week...I just never bothered to post them so...here you go. BONUS POINTS TO WHOEVER CAN FIGURE OUT THE PATTERN ALL MY TITLES FOLLOW (I thought I was being witty...so...)


	9. Live And Let Die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh… I started rereading Heroes of Olympus. Great book, you should totally read it. (p.s. I snuck some references to the story in here cause I’m a frickin neeeeerrrrddd)

The cuticles on Hunks fingers were a bleeding ravaged mess, and his nails were short and uneven. Hunk hadn’t bitten his nails since the Garrison, he was always too busy saving the universe to do so. But bad times bring back bad habits, and now Hunk had run out of nails to bite.

            Hunk had always been a tad squeamish around blood. It’s bright red color and metallic tang made his head feel light and stomach feel heavy. But now, Hunk had a new thing to be squeamish around. Glowing. Silver. Wounds. Lance’s injury made Hunk feel sick to his stomach. And yet, he found himself unable to vomit. Hunk figured it was because he was only here in Lance’s mind. Hunk’s body was only a projection, and therefore unable to perform normal (or in Hunks case, abnormal) bodily functions.

            This discovery brought to mind the question of how the Paladins could really die here in Lance’s mind. Sure, it seemed plausible if one was thinking along the lines of a mind plane or something, but this was Altean technology. It was incredibly advanced, and, contrary to Lance’s belief, the headsets did not deal in magic. Only science. It merged brainwave’s, linking minds together. So, if one really thought about it, the only things the Paladin’s could receive from Lance losing was a migraine.

            Granted, Lance _would_ die, given that it was his own mind and all, but the others, they’d get out of here just fine. It was this discovery that made Hunk as terrified as he was. Lance wasn’t fighting to save them, he was fighting to save himself. Hunk refused to tell anyone, for he knew if Lance found this out, he’d lose the will to fight and let himself die so the others could escape.

            The thought of a life without Lance was impossible to imagine. Even though they hadn’t been friends very long, Hunk had grown so close to Lance that he had begun to think of Lance as a brother. So Lance couldn’t die. Not when Hunk needed him to live.

            So Hunk kept silent.

 

            Keith wasn’t sure how he felt. Angry? Sad? Scared? Perhaps a mixture of all three. Keith knew all three feelings like the back of his hand. He had felt them most of his life. But never had Keith felt them applied to Lance.

            Well, the anger, maybe, but never fear or sadness.

            He was sad Lance was in so much pain. He was angry Lance was still fighting. And he was scared he might lose a, well, a friend. No. A brother.

            No matter how much Keith tried to deny it, he had grown to care about Lance.

            Of course, Keith would never let Lance know that. He would never hear the end of it. So Keith cheered Lance on the only way he knew how.

            “You lose to that bastard Lance, and I swear I’ll kill you myself!” He shouted at Lance. Lance made an obscene gesture with his hand, and Keith smirked. Lance would win this. He had too. After all, he and Lance still had an unfinished score to settle.

            Shiro was stiff, and his eyes burned from not blinking. Shiro didn’t want to miss a thing. He watched as Lance pulled out his bayard, and move slowly towards Mentira. He didn’t notice Hunk’s silent break down, and he didn’t flinch or react in any way when Keith insulted Lance, nor did he avert his eyes when Lance gave Keith the finger. He was too busy watching Lance’s painful movements. The way Lance forced himself not to limp, the way he clenched his teeth to avoid crying out, the way his fingers shook, curled around his bayard.

            Shiro could almost feel Lance’s pain as if it were his own. He remembered the burning hot and cold of the wound when he had merely _touched_ it. If it had hurt so much from that brief touch, heaven knew how bad it was for Lance.

            He wanted so badly to take Lance out of the battle, and fight Mentira himself. But Shiro knew he couldn’t, this was Lance’s battle. He had to have faith the Lance would survive, that he would win.

            So Shiro stared, unblinkingly at Lance, chanting silently _“Lance is a winner, he can do this”_  in a vain effort to convince himself of a victory hard won.

Pidge thought something must be wrong with her. She found her eyes dry, her head calm. She felt nothing but raw anger. All of it directed at Mentira. She found herself thinking dark, twisted thoughts; like new ways to kill, to torture. Anything to return all the pain he had wrought tenfold against Mentira.

There was something else though. Hidden beneath her anger, was heart-wrenching guilt. Guilt for getting distracted, for letting Lance get injured, for starting this whole mess in the first place. Her simple moment of carelessness had brought about all this pain and torment.

But Pidge could feel only anger right then. So the guilt lay there, buried deep, growing like a vine, ready to wreck havoc upon Pidge. It only had to wait for the anger to subside.

Lance was feeding off of pure adrenaline right now. It pumped through his veins, hot and prickly. Silver fireball after silver fireball came raining down upon Lance, and he weaved between them, clumsily. Luck and adrenaline. Those were what were keeping him alive right now.

Another fireball flew past Lance, and the edge of a flame licked his face. Lance bit down on his cheek to keep from crying out. The metallic tang of blood mingled with the fierce burning and freezing of the cut. Silver wisps flew from his cheek towards Mentira, melting back into his skin, causing a slight glow.

All around, the larger wisps from his side sang of his fears and insecurities.

_“Worthless…” “Seventh wheel…” “They don’t want you…” “That’s why you’re going to die…” “They don’t care…”_

“Shutupshutupshutuuuuup.” Lance mumbled. He pressed forward, firing his gun again and again at Mentira, but all missed.

“Will you keep fighting Paladin? It is useless, you are only delaying your death!” Mentira teases.

“Delaying death is one of my hobbies, _verga_.” Lance growled in return.

“Do you never think of the consequences of your actions?” Mentira was unfazed by Lance’s remarks.

“I try not to think―it interferes with being nuts.” Lance fired his gun again and again, Mentira just laughed.

“I know every weakness of every Paladin in here, do you truly think you can win?”

“Listen _pendejo_ , we all got weaknesses. Me, for instance. I’m tragically funny and good-looking.” Lance raised an eyebrow and tried to smile. Although, in the state he was in, it probably just looked like a grimace.

“Do you never stop joking Lance? At this rate, no one will ever take you seriously, if they did so in the first place.” Mentira just smiled calmly and continued hurling fireballs at Lance, whose movements were getting sloppier by the second. A burning sensation, one had skimmed his hand. Lance watch the silver wisp fly from his hand and back into Mentira, making him glow even brighter. Lance’s eyes went wide in astonishment, he mouthed something, then flipped back into his grim facial expression.

“I always figured that life-and-death situations are the best time to crack a joke.” Lance fired his gun again, but he couldn’t seem to get a hit in.

“Just give up already, hand over your gun and let the pain end Lance, fighting back is futile.” Mentira stretched out his hand for Lance’s gun.

Lance gripped it harder, panting, he said, “You can have my gun when you pry it from my paranoid, mentally disturbed, physically abused, cold, dead hand.”

Mentira retracted his hand and growled, his face red, “You have rebuked me for the last time, _mortal_.” he spat the last word, his calm demeanor gone. Raising his hand up high, Mentira prepared to fry Lance with one last hit.

Lance fired at the enraged Mentira, watching the fireball form, prepared to die. His blast flew in an arc of electric blue...and.. _hit it’s mark._

Mentira roared, clutching his burned and bleeding hand. “How _dare_ you!” He screeched, forming another fireball. But Lance fired again, and a long cut ran along the side of Mentiras face.

Lance had figured out how to beat Mentira. Mentira focused better when calm and collected. When enraged, Mentira lost all rationality, and became vulnerable. So all Lance had to do was make Mentira mad. And if there was anything Lance excelled in, it was pushing people's buttons.

“You doing ok there _verga_?”

“Shut up!” Mentira fired at Lance, but now _Mentira_ was the one missing. Lance was pulling ahead.

“Ooh, _¿Besas a tu madre con esa boca careculo?_ ” Lance dodged another fireball. Mentira was throwing them at random now, anger ruling his decisions.

“You will pay for your insults, you are a disgrace, a dying failure!”

            “ _Vete a la verga culera_.” Lance said, and, for the second time that day, made an obscene gesture with his hand. _(Author's Note: Um, this one is **super** bad, lance basically just said “Fudge” but not fudge. If you get my gist. So if you are sensitive to that word, **please** don’t look it up.)_

Mentira was glowing now. Shimmery, iridescent silver, radiated off of him in waves. His form wavered and shifted. “Why you-”

            “Oh hey, _tonto_ , have you been paying attention to our conversation?” Lance interrupted, smirking.

            “How dare you-”

            Lance cut him off again, “Let me stop you right there _muchacho_ , I don’t think you have. See, I’ve been switching between English and Español.”

            Mentiras face paled, “What-”

            “My native language is _Spanish_ _pendejo_ , you honestly think I wouldn’t notice?”

            Shiro and the group, who had been watching the fight with bated breath, unable to hear anything up until this point, gazed at eachother in confusion, what was Lance saying?

            Mentiras fiery aura had died, and he was shaking, fists clenched at his side. “What do you mean by all this?” He said through gritted teeth.

            “I’m saying I know who you are, _Mentira,_ or should I say, _lie_.”

            Everything froze, and the tornado of howling spirits dissipated. All was silent.

            Finally, Lance spoke again, “You honestly think I wouldn’t notice your name means _lie_ in Spanish?”

            Mentira was breathing heavily, body shaking, knuckles white, eye twitching. “It does not matter what my name means, _you_ , Lance McClain, are a walking dead man.”

            “That’s the thing though, am I really?”

            “What do you mean?” Mentira huffed.

            “You’re a lie, a fake, a double, a copy. A faded version of the real lake creature.”

            “No!”

            “”No?”, Lance smiled, “You keep trying to convince yourself of your power, to pretend you’re still alive. It took me a while, but once that shot hit my hand, I realized something. The injuries you caused? They burned, but not like the wound on my side. Those wisps that flew from those wounds never joined the whirlwind of spirits, they flew back towards you.”

            Pidge gasped, “You’re just like Fake-Lance, empty, hollow, only able to grow stronger by feeding off of Lance!”

            Lance nodded grimly, “That’s right.” Then he smiled, “You know, since you’re a fake, I feel like that changes the deal, right?”

            Mentiras eyes widened in fear, “No...no!” He pleaded.

            Lance gestured towards his friends, “Care to join in?”

            Shiro finally smiled, his galra arm glowing purple, “Thought you’d never ask.”

            The battle didn’t last five minutes.

            Keith slashed, Shiro punched, Pidge sliced, Hunk blasted, and Lance fired his gun. Until all that was left was a small silver wisp, which slowly evaporated into the air.

            “We did it.” Lance said wearily, then collapsed, panting. He was curled up over his side wound, which was still gushing silver spirits to join the mob.

            Their voices chorused around them. _“Loser…” “You fail…” “You fought in vain…”_

            “Lance!” Pidge cried, the world around them wavered, and Pidge felt a tearing, pulling sensation in her head. “Gah!” She clutched her head, crying out in pain. The moment passed and Pidge realized that the others had also felt the bout of pain.

            Once the ringing in her ears subsided, Pidge heard a sob. It was Lance. Tears streamed down his face as he moaned, whined, sobbed, groaned. He was rolling over and arched his back, Pidge could tell by his choked up cry that he was holding back. Lance was trying not to let them know how much pain he was in.

            She knelt next to him, “Lance, please stay with us, _please_.” His eyes fluttered, and the sharp ripping of her head returned. Pidge held in  a cry of pain as the others fell to their knees beside Lance.

            Pidge turned to Shiro, her voice shaking, “Shiro, what do we do? I thought it was over once he won, why isn’t he better?” She felt like she was five again, curled up next to Matt as they waited for their dog, Cassie, to be put down. But this time, there would be no death. There couldn’t be. Pidge was older, and she had a strong leader to help now.

            “I’m sorry Katie,” Shiro sobbed, squeezing his eyes shut and covering them with his hands, “I just don’t know what to do.” Pidge’s world shattered like a broken mirror, and she listened helplessly to Lance’s dying moans of pain.

            “No!” Keith shouted, he grabbed Lance’s head, lifting it up until their foreheads touched. He spoke through clenched teeth, his eyes angry and wet. “Come on Lance, you wouldn’t let us down, pull through, you can’t die on us…” Keith swallowed, “Bastard.”

            “Guys,” Hunk sounded on the verge of a break down, “I-I didn’t want to say this earlier, but,” Hunk’s voice faltered, “B-but with the severe possibility that Lance might-might not make it out, I have something that I should have told you all earlier.” All focus was directed towards Hunk. He took a deep breath.

            “Mentira was also lying about us dying, I’ve been going through everything in my head, and...well...the worst that’ll happen to us is a migraine.”

            “Hunk…” Keith grabbed the bridge of his nose in frustration, “How the HELL is that supposed to make things better!” A cold hand grabbed Keith’s arm, he looked down to see Lance staring up at him with dull gray eyes.

            “Don’t yell at him…” He mumbled “S’not ‘is fault, I’m...glad you’ll all be okay…” Every word sounded pained, and Lance lurched as more wisps flew from his body. Keith held his breath. The whole world around them faded in and out, but Keith could not see it through the blinding, hammering pain in his head. Then the pain vanished as things solidified again. Lance did not have much longer, this Keith knew.

            “ _Lance._ ” Pidge sobbed, burying her face in Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro was covering his face with his hands and shaking his head in shame. Hunk had his eyes screwed shut, tears streaming down silently, his fists clenched at his side.

            Keith couldn’t bear it much longer. “That does it.” He growled. Keith lifted his hands and stared at them for a moment, processing what he was about to do. _Shiro said he could feel Lance’s pain when he touched the wound huh?_ Keith closed his eyes, and breathed in deep. Then, slowly, he placed his hands on the wound.

            The pain was immediate, and Keith bit his tongue to keep from crying out, and forced his hands to stay on the wound. It was like being burned alive and getting frostbite all at the same time. Had Lance really been fighting with this pain the entire time? Of course he had been. Because Lance was a self sacrificing idiot.

            “Keith..what...doing? Stop...you...hurt…” Lance panted.

            Keith gritted his teeth, “I’m not letting you bear this pain alone.” He said. Shiro looked up at Keith with red rimmed eyes, once he saw what Keith was doing, he tried to pull Keith’s hands away.

            “Keith! What the Hell are you doing?!” He yelled, but Keith refused to budge.

            “I don’t _care_ about the pain, I don’t want Lance to be alone!” Keith couldn’t feel the tears that had begun pooling down his face. Everything burned and froze, burned and froze. The world was tinged silver.

            Shiro stopped pulling. “Are you sure Keith? I barely had to touch it to be in agony, do you intend to bear that pain with Lance until the end?”

            Keith nodded. “I may be new to how families work, but I do know that they suffer together. So I’ll do all I can to help Lance until-” He didn’t finish.

            Shiro nodded, understanding. Then, watching Keith the whole time, Shiro placed his flesh hand upon the wound next to Keith’s hand.

            Keiths eyes widened, “Shiro…”

            Shiro’s body shook with pain, “You’re right Keith.” His voice remained steady and calm. “Families suffer together.”

            Pidge felt Shiro shaking, and looked up. Whether she had heard their conversation or not, Pidge’s face went eerily calm as she placed her hand on the wound, dwarfed next to Keith and Shiro’s larger hands. Her small body quaked, but Pidge was unrelenting. Lance was in pain because of her folly. He wouldn’t be alone.

            Hunk opened his eyes and saw them all, tense with fear. He placed his hand on top of the pile, covering all the others.

            And so they all sat, emotionally and physically drained, quivering with pain and fear for their friend. And at that moment, they all wished the same thing at the same time. To rid Lance of the pain and heal his body.

            And that’s when something miraculous happened.  

 

 

 


	10. Skyfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter in Better of Dead, please check the notes for special shout outs and a special announcement about Part 2 of Langst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, here we go. This is it folks. The last chapter. I would like to thank everyone for their support, special shout outs to:  
> Maychorian: Thank you for being the first to comment and for pushing me to continue writing! Also, I love your Boom Crash series, they’re what inspired to write this, so your comment really makes this special!  
> Ghostvinyls (jebbyfish): I’m really glad you liked the beginning! Honestly, I had no idea where this story would go, so I was excited right next to you!  
> Lokish: I too was excited to find out what was going to happen. I’m glad you found it interesting! Interesting is good, it’s what I was aiming for, so I’m glad I managed to do it!  
> Brightisthedawn: Thank you for complimenting my writing style! I take some writing classes and have been working on developing something that worked for me, so I’m glad it seems to work!  
> Ainui: Thank you for your multiple comments and for pointing out which parts you liked best! I’m so glad you found it funny, and that you liked my descriptions of Pidge and Lance!  
> Kotonohaku: Thank you for your critique, I’ve been working hard to improve my writing, so it really helped when you gave me that advice, I hope I managed to fix the problem!  
> DorkyV: Thank you for your wonderful compliments of my story, and that I managed to write a story that really played with your emotions!  
> Draftee Dragon: Thank you for thinking this story is amazing, and for cheering Lance on! I’m really glad my story was well received!  
> Again, thank you for all your wonderful comments! They really help keep me writing. Now for Chapter 10: Skyfall! (bonus points for whoever can guess the pattern my titles have)

As all sat around Lance, burning and freezing as one, they all made one singular wish. To save Lance from all this pain. And that’s when it happened.

            Keith felt a sharp pull in his gut, he pulled in a short breath at the sudden pain, then watched in amazement as his hands began to glow a bright gold. A flaming aura grew from surrounded him, and wisps of gold flew into Lance’s side. Lance’s back arched and he gasped loudly.

            Lance shuddered, then relaxed. His complexion looked fuller, more rich in color. His breathing had steadied.

            “What the-?” Keith began, but cut himself off when Shiro cried out. He turned to see Shiro surrounded by the same flowing aura. Then Pidge, than Hunk. All felt the tugging and the pull as gold flew into Lance’s wound. Keith could feel his strength fading with each discharge. He watched in awe as the silver wound began to close, gold filling Lance with rejuvenated energy.

            Bit by bit, the team was somehow healing Lance with their own quintessence. By joining their very souls with Lance to help ease the pain, their minds had achieved full tandem.

            The process was exhausting, and painful. But completely worth it. Eventually, the flow of quintessence began to slow to a trickle, then come to a complete stop.

            When it was over, the burning and freezing sensation had vanished. The group collapsed into a tired heap. Lance groaned and opened his eyes.

            The pain...was gone. Lance reached down to touch his side, no wound, not even a scar. Lance felt warm and comfortable, his head buzzed with joy. Which, he thought, was a bit weird to think about. Especially since he was _in_ his head. Great. Somebody get a can opener, Lance was stuck in his own head.

            He was sure there was a metaphor somewhere in there, but he was too hyped up on quintessence to care.

            Lance had had a friend, Enrique, who had ADHD. Enrique had explained what it was like to Lance once before, and it was exactly what Lance felt like right now.

            His couldn’t sit still, his fingers wiggled, his leg bounced and his head swivelled around to check his surroundings. Everything caught his eye, he couldn’t focus on thing at a time, millions of thoughts zoomed through his brain. Disappearing before Lance had time to process them.

            It was because of this that it took Lance so long to notice the pile of collapsed Paladins pooled around his feet.

            “Oh, hiya guys!” Lance knelt down, poking Keith in the face. “Um, you okay?”  Keith glared at him through half open eyes. “I’ll just uh, I’ll just let you guys take your group nap now.” Lance backed away from Keith.  
            He began walking around, aimlessly. The tornado of silver ghosts had vanished, and all was black, except for the ground, which appeared to be an oversized mirror.

            No matter which way Lance went, he always found himself back to where he had begun. He crossed his arms and bit his lip, thinking.

            _Now how the Hell do I get out of here?_ Lance huffed, “ _Dios mio_ Coran, you find a way to get everybody inside my head but you couldn’t download some kinda instructions on how to get them _out_? My brain doesn’t exactly come with a user's manual so I could _really_ use some help right about now.” Lance mumbled to himself.

            He was so jumped up right now that dying of boredom was quickly becoming an area of concern for Lance.

            “OHHHHH ONE HUNDRED BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL, ONE HUNDRED BOTTLES OF BEEEEERRRR!”

            He gave up after about twenty verses.

            After forever and a half, the “Pile O’ Paladins” (as Lance had dubbed them) had woken up.

“Finally!” Lance cheered, running towards them, “It’s so boring in here.”

“You’re saying your mind is boring?” Pidge raised an eyebrow.

“Ummm…” Lance blushed, “Uh, how bout’ a change in subject, I like this one: What exactly happened? I mean, I was like, dying and stuff, and then I was jacked up on something weird, made my head fuzzy and chest warm, also, LOOK!” Lance turned to show his side, “I’m healed! No pain or anything, also, why were you guys taking a nap? Why are we still in my head? Do you know how to get out?”

Lance could have kept talking, but Keith pulled himself up onto his feet. One hand on his knee as he bended over in exhaustion, Keith placed a hand over Lance’s mouth.

“Hey Lance? Shut up.” Keith groaned, “I’m really tired, and my head hurts.”

Lance opened his mouth, probably to ask Keith why his head hurt, but one look at Pidge’s face stopped him. He licked Keith’s hand instead.

Keith pulled his hand away, and began to wipe it on his jacket, disgusted. “Gross Lance, what the hell?” But Lance ignored him, he turned to  Pidge.

“You alright? You look like you’re at a funeral kiddo.” Pidge’s eyes were watering, and her lip quivered. She ran smack into Lance and began violently hugging him.

“What the-?”

“I’m sorry,” Pidge sobbed into his shirt, “I’m so so sorry.”

Lance began brushing his hand through her hair, “Katie, what on earth are you sorry for?”

“I-I dropped my g-guard and-and, you got shot and then y-you almost _died_ because I’m s-so _stupid_ and _selfish_ and-”

Lance laughed softly, then kneeled down to Pidge’s height, “Listen, all of that is not your fault, it was _my_ choice to jump in and save, and you know what? I’d do it all over again, a million times even. Just to save you, so smile, okay? Because as long as you’re smiling, I can smile, and everything will be okay. Now _breath_ Katie, before you pass out.” 

Pidge hadn’t realized she’d stopped breathing, she sucked in some much needed air, and relaxed her body as Lance continued hugging her. She removed her face from Lance’s shirt, and smiled at him, faintly.

“There ya go.” Lance said, smiling back, “Everyone loves a good ol’ midget smile.”

“Lance.”

“Hmm?”

“Shut up.”

Lance burst into raucous laughter, and Pidge had no choice but to join in. Then, Lance found himself almost thrown to the ground by a large figure.

“Hunk?!” Lance steadied himself. “Hey big guy, you doing ok?”

“Lance,” Hunk pulled away to look Lance in the eyes, his own were bloodshot and wet, full of pain. “I almost lost you, for good. We- _I_ didn’t know how to save my own _friend_ , I was a failure.” Lance smirked.

“Geez, everyone’s turning this whole thing into a cry fest huh?” He sighed and shook his head, looking upwards as if to say _“What the heck am I supposed to do with you guys?”_ “Listen, none of you are to blame for what happened, in fact, if there’s anything that needs to be said, it’s that you guys really pulled through and helped me back there, couldn’t’ve done it without you.” Lance winked, then smiled softly.

“Hunk, you are on of _the best friend_ I will _ever_ have. You’ve been with me from the very beginning, and, despite all my screw ups, you stayed my friend. Putting up with all my crap is a hard thing to do. And yet, you managed the impossible.”

“But Lance, I-I couldn’t-I’m a terrible person. You almost _died_ Lance, I couldn’t do anything to help, I couldn’t sacrifice myself the way you did-”

“Hunk, remember that kid from our first year at the Garrison, Jake Arvay?”

“Um, yeah?”

“Do you remember what he told you?”

“He-he said I was useless as a mechanic, that I was a failure of a cadet because I couldn’t even ride the elevator without getting sick.”

“Do you remember what I did to Jake after he called you useless and a failure?”

“Ummm…” Hunk thought for a moment, “I-I think you punched him in the gut.”

Pidge burst out laughing, “I remember that day, you got really mad at him, told him he was a useless and failure of a human being if he believed those things. He got mad and told you at least he was in fighter class and not a caro pilot. You hit him right below the ribcages, knocked the air out of him. He went out of his way to avoid us ever since then.”

“Correct Pidge, and if Hunk keeps calling himself useless and a failure, I’ll do the same thing to him. _No one_ makes fun of Hunk on my watch.”

Hunk sniffed, “I really don’t deserve a friend like you.”

Lance smiled, “Nah, I think it’s more like I don’t deserve a brother like you.”

Hunk sobbed, and went back in for a crushing hug.

“ _Ribs ribs ribs._ ” Wheezed Lance, but he smiled all the same.

When Hunk was done, Keith sauntered back up to Lance-and promptly slugged him in the shoulder.

“Ow! Geez Keith, what the hell?!”

“ _That,_ is for being a selfless prick.” Keith hit him again, harder. “ _That,_ was for getting yourself injured like an idiot.” Another hard punch, but Lance made no move to defend himself. “ _That,_ was for telling us you were fine when you plainly weren't.” This punch landed on the other shoulder, as if to even out the bruising. “ _That_ one, was for almost dying like a frickin’ dumbass.” Lance closed his eyes, waiting for the next hit, but instead found himself being pulled into a tight hug.

“And _this_ , is a thank you. Despite all your stupidity and carelessness, I couldn’t ask for a better rival.”

Lance squeezed Keith back, “Thanks mullet head.” He pulled away and punched Keith in the arm in a friendly way. “That’s for being just as stupid as me, taking on some of my pain. Geez Keith, how am I supposed to resent you if you keep on being all nice to me and stuff? I’m just a lowly cargo pilot. You’re like, the king of flying, an ace pilot. I’m supposed to resent you.”

“King of flying?”

“Yeah, you’re all-bam! Firebending. And ‘watch me fly. I am the eagle that soars-”

“Shut up Lance.”

Lance managed a small smile, “Yeah, see? I do annoy you, we get on each others nerves, that’s how a rivalry works _tonto_.”

“I apologize for being nice.”

“Thank you.”

Lance turned to Shiro who had been unusually silent this whole time.

“Hey boss-man, wazzup?”

Shiro drew up close to Lance and placed his galra hand on Lance’s shoulder.

“Lance, I want you to know that I am _proud_ to know you. No leader could ask for a better warrior, no human could ask for a better friend, no world could ask for a better hero, no lion could ask for a better Paladin...and no father could ask for a better son.”

Lance was at a loss for words for the first time in his life. He choked a little, his eyes tearing up. He swallowed, and stood up straighter.

“Shiro, I’m no hero, and, I-I do fail, a lot, if anyone is the best at all those things it’s you. You’re my hero Shiro, always have been. I hope, one day, I can do half the things you do, and become at least close to being the hero you are.”

“What makes you think _I’m_ the hero Lance?”

“Well,” Lance began listing reasons off on his fingers, “One: You were the youngest cadet to graduate from the Garrison, like, ever. Two: You were such a good pilot that you were picked to go on the Kerberos mission. Three: You survived a year with the galra and managed to escape. Four: You came back to earth to warn us, then became a vital part to _saving_ earth. Five: No matter what’s going on, you still manage to remain calm and know exactly what to do in order to save _multiple universes_. You sound like a hero to me.”

Shiro sighed, then looked Lance directly in the eyes. “Listen, Lance, somebody once told me that a hero's bravery has to be unplanned - a genuine response to a crisis. It has to come from the heart, without any thought of reward.”

“Shiro-”

“When you jumped in front of Pidge to take that hit for her, was that part of the plan?”

“Well, no but-”

“When you chose to make that deal with Mentira, and fight to save our lives, did you wake up prepared to almost die for us?”

No, but Shiro-”

Shiro was yelling now, “When you woke up that first day we met, did you plan on saving my life, on finding Blue? Did you prepare yourself to fly us all out here, to leave your family, your home behind, in order to save the families and homes of complete strangers? To take that explosion for Coran, to fight magic and technology that could kill you in a matter of seconds?”

“No! But Shiro, you did all those things too, you, Keith, Katie, Hunk, you all did the same things as me!”

“Yes, but most of us have reasons to do so. I have a history with the galra, Katie’s family are prisoners of the galra, Keith has family who _are_ galra.”

“And Hunk?”

Hunk interceded, “I didn’t start out with a reason, but along the way, I made friends, now, I fight to save Shay, and the other Balmarins.”

“Yes, but Hunk, you started out just like me, that’s what makes you so heroic, far more than me.”

“Stop it Lance!” Shiro yelled, “Stop complaining and tell me _why_ you came, why you fight to save lives.”

Lance opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, “I-I don’t know why, I just...I saw you in trouble, we had to help you, you couldn’t help yourself. And then I had nowhere else to go I guess, I couldn’t go back to the Garrison, that’s why.”

“No, Lance. You came here because deep down, you _are_ a hero. You helped me because I needed help, I could have been crazy, and you still came. You took blasts without knowing if you’d live or die, you fight to save people who mock you, tease you, exclude you. Because you Lance, are a hero.”

Lance opened his mouth to argue, but Shiro cut him off.

“If you even think of denying it, just remember that I’m pissed off, have advanced alien technology for a hand, and a mean right hook.”

Lance shut his mouth again.

“Now,” Shiro looked around, “How the _hell_ do we get out?”

“You don’t know?” Asked Lance. A cold trickle of worry began to creep down his spine.

“No, we kinda didn’t think this part through, too busy trying to save you.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Lance began to think, this was his mind after all, shouldn’t he be able to wake himself up or something? He began furiously trying to wake himself up.

“Um, Lance?” Asked Pidge, “You okay? You look like you’re constipated or something.”

“Yup, fine, perfectly fine.” Lance blushed, then sat on the ground. He crossed his legs, closed his eyes, breathed slow deep breathes, and began to meditate.

 _Home._ He thought. _Take us home._

Everyone gasped as the blackness began to drip and fall away, giving room for crystalline blue skies, white fluffy clouds, white sands, thick mangroves, and a majestic aquamarine ocean view. Lance opened his eyes.

“Uh, oops, didn’t mean to bring us here.”

“And where is here, exactly?” Pidge asked in wonder of the beauty all around her.

“Um, by the looks of it, _Playa Maguana, Baracoa_.” Lance had gone pale, checking out his surroundings. His chest hurt, and Lance felt it hard to breath.

It was different in small ways, no tourists, no boats, no birds could be heard singing, no frogs, just pounding waves and a soft, salty breeze.

He could smell the sizzling meat from his _tia y tios_ restaurant, the salt from the ocean, and the overpoweringly sweet smell of tropical plants.

Humidity stuck his clothes and hair close to his skin. Sharp tears pricked his eyes, but he swallowed them down.

“It’s beautiful.” Pidge whispered, completely enamored with the natural beauty surrounding her.

Hunk was at a loss for words, and Shiro had his eyes closed, looking completely at peace as he breathed in the ocean air.

Keith walked up behind Lance and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Is this your home?” He said softly.

Lance nodded, “Yeah,” His voice cracked, he pointed towards a small building to his right.

It was small and homely, but it gave off vibes of care, love, and joy.

“That’s my _tia y tio’s_ restaurant, they called it _Toma Te_.” Lance laughed a little, “It’s a pun, see, _Toma_ means taking, _Te_ means tea, Taking Tea, but put the two words together you get _Tomate_ , Tomatoe.”

Lance smiled dreamily, then pointed to a small grove of trees, “That’s where Anton, Felipe, Tony, Neo, Montez, and I used to play, We built a clubhouse out of the leaves and branches, we wouldn’t let the girls in. Maria was furious, she and Mariposa decided to get revenge by taking some rotten peppers and onions from the dumpster behind the restaurant. They sliced them up to get the most smell out of them, then hid them in the walls of our clubhouse. My nose burned for days.” Lance was getting more excited now. He pointed to a small hut, probably a three room house.

“That’s where I grew up, All the adults shared one room, the kids another, _mi primos, tia y tio_ stayed in the restaurant, Abuelo had his own room.” Lance’s smile fell.

“He used to take me outside when the stars came out, even when my mom told him no. He taught me all the constellations and used to tell me all sorts of stories about his adventures in space.” Lance bowed his head, “Man, _Abuelo_ was one _radio bemba_ , he also like to take me out onto the beach to watch the _yuma_ come by. He would eavesdrop on them and tell their stories to us at dinner, always putting his own twist on them to make us laugh.” Lance grimaced.

“ _Dios mio_ , I really miss him.”

Pidge walked over and bumped her shoulder against his arm, “Race you to the ocean, slowpoke.”

Lance looked up, then smiled, “You’re on.”

Tossing their shoes off as they ran, the two leapt into the shallow end and began splashing each other, laughing hysterically. Soon, Hunk, Shiro, and even Keith joined in.

Eventually, they all collapsed upon the warm sand, soaked from head to toe, panting, but happier than they had been for a long time. The sun had begun to set, and bright, beautiful stars shone in the sky, in a way they couldn’t in crowded cities.

Everyone watched as recognizable constellations appeared above them. Lance pointed to some.

“There’s the Dipper, that’s Orion, over there is Ursa Major, then that right there is the Swan.”

“Wow.” Pidge commented, “You really know you’re constellations.”

Lance sighed, “Yeah, curtesy of my _Abuelo_.”

Keith turned his head towards Lance, “He sounds like a great man.”

“He was.”

Hunk smiled, “I wish my grandpa was like that, mine just liked to sit in his chair and regale us in stories of his time in the war.”

“That’s still cool.”

“Yeah, it was I guess. I hope when we get back to earth, I can tell him some stories of my own.”

“Yeah, _if_ we get back to earth.” Keith said, “What if we don’t survive this battle, if we bit off more than we can chew?”

“We’ll make it out alive, we’re heroes, right? Heroes _never_ lose.”

“They can lose friends.” Pidge mumbled.

Lance started, “Wow Katie, that was depressing.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just, when this is all over, will we ever see each other again? We all come from completely different lives, and when we return to earth, we’ll have to go back to them.” Pidge sniffed, “I-I can’t imagine leaving you all, I’ve come to think of everyone here as part of my family, and...the thought of never seeing you guys again….”

“Katie, do you want to know something my _Abuelo_ used to tell me?”

“What?”

“ _Los encuentros breves pueden resultar en relaciones largas,_ brief encounters can result in long relationships. We may be different, and not have known each other very long, but we will eventually. After what we’ve been through, how could we not stay together?”

“You’re grandpa was a very smart man.” Said Shiro.

“Smartest I ever knew.”

Pidge smiled, “I guess you’re right. We really can’t leave each other, we’re a family, and nothing will ever change that, huh?”

They all sat there, watching the stars go by in silence for a while, then Lance sat up.

“Um, so, this is nice and all, bonding moments and such, but we really need to find a way to leave. We kinda have a universe to save.”

“You’re right.” Shiro grunted as he pulled himself up to his feet. “Let’s think, Lance, you somehow changed where we were, right?”

Lance nodded, “Yup.”

“Okay, good, so let’s see if you can somehow wake yourself up.”

“I already tried that, but it didn’t work, all I did was bring us here.”

“What were you thinking of.”

“Well...I was thinking of-of….oh.”

“What?”

“I wanted to go home, I said ‘take us home’, I meant the ship, but…”

“You brought us to _your_ home instead.” Said Hunk, understanding.

“Yeah, whoops.”

Shiro shrugged, “That’s alright Lance, but now that we know this, think you can try and wake yourself up?”

“I can try.” Lance plopped onto the sand, sat up straight, crossed his legs, breathed in, and began to meditate again.

The stars were fading, giving way to a majestic sunrise full of rich orange and yellow, pale blue, soft lilac, creamy green, and vibrant red hues. It was a beautiful array of colors, sparkling off the ocean, shining bright and warm upon the Paladins.

“Wow.” Whispered Hunk, “I’ve never seen anything so amazing.”

“No kidding.” Agreed Keith, “I’ve never seen anything quite like it before.”

Shiro saw Lance’s mouth twist upward in a soft smile at his friends praise of his hometown. Shiro smiled too, this was one experience they’d never forget.

 _Take us back to the ship, wake us up, take us to Coran and Allura...please._ Thought Lance. Another voice began to ring in his ears, unheard by the others.

_“My Paladin, you are healed!”_

_“Hey Blue, ¿que pasa?”_

_“You wish to return to us, that is good, focus on my voice My Paladin, for I can bring you back.”_

Lance gave a mental nod. _“Got it.”_ Focusing on Blue’s calm, deep, tone, Lance began to pull the Paladin’s out of his head.

The sky began to crack, as if made of glass, then, with a magnificent crash, the sky shattered and rained down upon them.

And they all woke up.

After about a million hugs (now complete with their very own Allura and Coran!), a huge midnight meal (prepared by Hunk, much to Coran’s chagrin, and everyone else’s joy), and a long (dreamless) nap, Lance felt right as rain.

Of course, things had definitely changed. But mostly for the better.

Keith and Lance continued their rivalry, but now it was two brothers competing with each other, not two strangers vying for top place.

Hunk and Lance spent more time together. Lance now helped out in the kitchen, teaching Hunk some skills he had learned from his Aunt and Uncle back in Cuba.

Shiro and Lance began to practice together more often, and Shiro had begun to give Lance tips on shooting. Shiro had sworn to be the best “Space Dad” he could be for Lance and the others, and no one could agree more that he was excellent at it.

Pidge and Lance had bonded the most it seemed. On movie nights in the lounge, Pidge would curl up next to Lance, who wou’d throw his arm round her shoulders and give her a slight noogie. They teased each other everyday, but now with smiles on their faces. Lance had even dubbed her “Honorary Little Sister”, which Pidge had accepted with joy, since she had begun to think of Lance as a fill in big brother while Matt was still held captive.

Allura and Coran were overjoyed at the Paladin’s stronger bond, as were the lions. They formed Voltron almost effortlessly, and fought almost in synchronization.

Lance had not escaped unscathed. He was sometimes plagued by sudden ghost pains in his left side, and Mentira had left Lance with an increased fear of failure. Lance often woke up drenched in a cold sweat.

After One particularly bad nightmare, where Lance had failed to save his friends and watch them be killed, one by one, by the galra; Lance had decided to go and get a drink of water.

He crept down to the kitchen as silently as he could. Once there, he flipped the light switch.

Only to be greeted by all the Paladin’s, dressed in various forms of nightwear, all with crossed arms and grim expressions.

“Uh, hey guys!” Lance said cheerfully, “What’s up?”

“ _What’s up_?” Said Pidge incredulously, “ _What’s up_ is that you’ve been lying to us, you think we wouldn’t notice the lack of sleep? The random moments of pain flashing across your face? We’ve been _inside your head_ dumbass!”

“Language.” Shiro said sharply, but Pidge ignored him.

“We aren’t stupid, and we also care about you. So let us know you’re hurting so we can help!”

Lance looked around in awe, “You all knew?”

“Yeah.” Hunk said grimly, “We’ve known for a while.”

“We wanted to wait until you told us yourself.” Said Keith, “But when you refused to admit you needed our help, we realized we would have to confront you ourselves.”

“Ah.” Lance said,”Um, sorry?”

“Lance, we all have problems,” Shiro explained, “They come in different shapes and sizes, but they are problems nonetheless. That’s why we have friends and family, to help us with our problems. But if you can’t trust us to help you, what does that make us? Acquaintances?”

“No-”

“Then why won’t you tell us you need help?” Pidge pushed, “Why must you always try to play the high ground and bear this pain on your own?”

“Well...because…” They waited for him to explain. “Because...I don’t want to burden you guys with my problems.”

“Wrong!” Yelled Keith, “I’ve seen your memories, I know you Lance, you won’t tell us because for all those years after your dad left, you had to be strong for others. You couldn’t show weakness or pain because then your family would be sad. But guess what, we aren’t like them, we don’t need protecting, we need Lance. A Lance who can trust us and we can trust back. You can tell us when you’re in pain, when you feel weak. So tell us what’s going on.”

Lance sighed, and sat down on a chair, the Paladin’s circling him.

“I’ve been having nightmares.” He admitted, “I keep seeing myself failing at something and losing my family, my friends, you guys, everyone I care about dying because I couldn’t save them. I also have dreams about Mentira, taunting me, saying he survived, I lost, we all died.” Lance shook his head in remorse, “It’s stupid I know-”

“No Lance.” Said Pidge softly, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It’s not stupid, what happened...it was bad, Mentira exposed you to all your fears and doubts, it’s no wonder they increased. But you aren’t a failure, or a dissapointment. We discussed this, remember? You are Lance. A Paladin of Voltron, and a hero of the universe.”

“Lance,” Said Hunk, “Do you know what the title ‘Paladin’ means?”

Lance shook his head.

“Paladin means ‘warrior’ or ‘hero’. It’s no mystery why you were chosen by Blue. You are destined to _succeed_.”

“You think so?’

“I know so.”

Lance smiled, “Thanks.”

“Now,” Said Shiro, “What else is wrong?”

“I keep getting ghost pains from that side wound, they appear in flashes, but the more stressed I am, the more they happen, and the stronger they are.”

“There isn’t much we can do to treat a wound that’s not there.” Shiro said, “But I get ghost pains as well in my arm sometimes. I’ve found that reminding myself that it’s not real and meditating help.”

Hunk nodded, “Yeah, and next time you feel it, let us know. We felt your pain, remember? We know how it feels and how incapacitating it can be. Just holler out and we’ll be there. Promise.”

Lance smiled, “Thanks, I couldn’t ask for a better Space Fam.”

“Space Fam?” Keith raised an eyebrow.

“Yup, we got Shiro as the dad, Allura as the mom, Coran the weird uncle, Hunk and I are like the Weasley twins, cause’ we’re always up to something.”

Hunk raised a hand in protest, “Um, I think you mean that _you_ are always up to something, you just pull me along.”

“Duly noted, anyway, Katie is the cute little sister, and Keith is the grandpa.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Yeah, because you’re so behind on all things modern, seriously, who on earth doesn’t know who _Beyoncé_ is? _Beyoncé_?”

“Well I’m sorry, I didn’t realize not knowing a singer makes one socially crippled!”

“It does when that singer happens to be the _Queen of all Music_!”

“Ugh, you’re insufferable!”

“Oh yeah? Well at least I know what Hamilton is, unlike a certain mullet head I know who’s still stuck in the 80’s!”

“You little-”

Allura and Coran hid from view, laughing as the Paladin’s continued their midnight argument.

“They really are something, huh princess?” Coran said, his voice was full of love for these Paladin’s.

Coran had lost his own children and wife to the galra, so when he had met the new Paladin’s of Voltron and realized how young they were...well. Coran had found a new family, and he was sure Allura had as well.

“Yes Coran, they really are quite the team. I’ve never seen anything like it. Should we make our presence known?”

“No, let them enjoy themselves, they need it.” Coran said. “Now, off to bed with you, there’s a lot of work to be done tomorrow, and we’ll need a well rested princess to get it done.” Coran began softly pushing Allura toward her room.

“Alright, alright Coran!” Allura laughed, “Goodnight.” She kissed him in the cheek, then walked off to bed.

“Goodnight Allura.” Coran smiled, then, looking upwards he said, “King Alfor, I wish you could see how amazing your new Paladin’s are, and how your little girl has grown into a strong young woman. I’ve even come to think of her as my own daughter. You would be so proud.”

Coran turned to watch the Paladin’s again, where Lance had started an impromptu performance of some strange song about nations rising and empires falling. The others’s, excluding Keith, had joined in and were dancing wildly as they sang.

He smiled softly, “Goodnight Paladin’s, sleep well.” Then he turned around and walked back to his room with the knowledge that the universe was in good hands.

There never was a better team of heroes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand, there it is. The ending. That’s it. Finished…..unlessIdecidetodoapart2. Ahem. Sorry about that, little tickle in my throat. Anyway, thank you so much for all your support and for reading my story even if my writing needs work :P I really enjoyed writing this story, and I can’t wait to write my next one, "Ice Castles", so keep an eye out for it! Love you all!  
> -Nerdqueen395


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